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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Sam Quigley, sam@patrioticmillionaires.org, 202-446-0489

Patriotic Millionaire on Senator Udall's Introduction of the For the People Act: "Senate Republicans Must Prove They're Not the Party of Corruption."

“Democracy relies on free and fair access to the ballot box, and protection from special interests exerting undue influence over our elected officials."

WASHINGTON

Today, Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced the For the People Act, the Senate companion to HR 1 and cosponsored by every single Senate Democrat, which proposes a wide variety of election and campaign finance-related reforms. This introduction follows the bill's overwhelming passage in the House, despite staunch opposition from Republicans that is expected to extend to the Senate. In response, Morris Pearl, Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., issued the following statement:

"This act is a crucial measure to fix our broken politics, and stop the interests of the wealthy few from dominating the majority of the American people. Democracy relies on free and fair access to the ballot box, and protection from special interests exerting undue influence over our elected officials. It's shameful that our system instead operates through money and access, primarily because the Republican party is worried that ending the influence of big money and ensuring every citizen has the right to vote will cause them to lose power in Washington.
"The introduction of the For the People Act in the Senate follows HR 1's passage in the House in a strict party line vote. Not a single Republican voted in favor of ending the corrupting influence of money in politics, and that should serve as a warning sign to us all about where the GOP's values truly lie. With this act's fate now in their hands, Senate Republicans must prove they're not the party of corruption."

The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.

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