September, 06 2016, 03:30pm EDT
Sen. Whitehouse and Rhode Island Officials Call for Federal Campaign Finance Reform to Ensure Government Works for All Americans, Not Just Special Interests
Statement of Aquene Freechild, Co-Director of Public Citizen’s Democracy Is For People Campaign
WASHINGTON
Note: Today, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), U.S. Reps. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) and David Cicilline (D-R.I.), and Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, in partnership with Public Citizen and Common Cause Rhode Island, are hosting an event calling for action on federal campaign finance reform. The participants discussed the "We The People" legislative package - introduced in the U.S. Senate in June - to deal with secret corporate political spending, lobbyist influence, the revolving door and other facets of the campaign finance system.
Rhode Islanders, like most Americans, feel that our democracy is wildly out of balance. They see the interests of corporations and the wealthy pushing the needs of everyday people further and further from the heart of what our government should do. Luckily, Rhode Island has a host of powerful democracy champions in Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, and Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea.
These elected officials are standing up to big money interests and lifting up the voices of everyday people who worry about affordable housing and education, not corporate tax breaks and privatization. They get that it's not enough to support good policies and that we need to change the way elections and government are operated. By prioritizing overturning Citizens United, calling for dark money to be yanked into the sunlight and closing the revolving door that incentivizes corruption, Senator Whitehouse and his fellow elected officials are standing up for every popular issue that wealthy interests are blocking in Congress right now.
As one of the groups leading the movement to amend the Constitution to overturn Citizens United, Public Citizen is proud to stand with the public servants and the many Americans who are working to ensure that the system works for regular people.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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