Move to Amend to Target Congressional Offices Next Tuesday
Move to Amend, a national grassroots organization seeking to amend the U.S. Constitution to make clear that only human beings have Constitutional rights and to get big money out of politics, is organizing "Free The People from Corporate Rule" rallies and press conferences at Congressional offices across the country on Tuesday, May 28 to call on Congress to pass the We the People Amendment.
House Joint Resolution 48, or the We the People Amendment is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution introduced by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-D) in February of this year. Move to Amend has been working to pass the measure since January 21, 2010, the date of the Supreme Court's controversial ruling for the Citizens United v. FEC case, which opened the door to massive amounts of corporate cash in elections and made it easier for wealthy donors to dominate the political process.
The We the People Amendment will overturn Citizens United and related cases by making clear that, "The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only," and require Congress to limit campaign spending.
"As Americans are gearing up for one of the most important elections in our country's history, we want Congress to act to end the dominance of big money over the political process, and the corporate hijacking of our Constitution which makes democracy and self-governance impossible, stated Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, National Director of the coalition, "Corporate Personhood allows giant companies to wield the Constitution against the public when laws are passed to protect the people, the planet, our communities, or our democracy from corporate harm. It is time for every member of Congress to tell us whose side they are on -- We the People, or large corporations."
Demonstrations are taking place at key offices targeted at dozens of Congressmembers, including Nancy Pelosi (CA-D), Adam Schiff (CA-D), Lois Frankel (FL-D), Paul Gosar (AZ-R), Marcia Fudge (OH-D), Ami Bera (CA-D), Rick Larson (WA-D), Warren Davidson (OH-R), and many others.
Move to Amend is a national coalition with grassroots chapters across the country. Launched publicly on the date of the Citizens United ruling, the movement has worked to pass over 700 community resolutions calling for an amendment to the Constitution, including hundreds of citizen ballot measures where voters are directly calling on Congress to pass the amendment. The We the People Amendment was first introduced in Congress in 2013 by Representative Rick Nolan (MN-D). Upon his retirement last year the group began working with Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-D) whose state is one of four to have passed a statewide ballot initiative calling for the amendment.
A complete list of Congressional offices that will be part of the action can be found at MoveToAmend.org/FreeThePeople. The text of the We the People Amendment and list of current co-sponsors can be found here.
