Washington (September 11, 2014) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) this week took to the Senate floor to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. Today, Senator Markey voted in support of a pending Constitutional amendment introduced by Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) that would give Congress and individual states the authority to regulate campaign finance and put an end to the undisclosed, unlimited campaign funding that is undermining elections and democracy. 

 

“Our government is supposed to be about checks and balances. Citizens’ United and the recent McCutcheon decision make it more about who is writing the checks, and how big is their bank balance,” said Senator Markey. “This Supreme Court interprets the First Amendment not as a guarantee of free speech, but of who can pay to speak. As a result, our democracy is in peril. 

 

“Campaign finance limits don’t limit free speech.  They increase it – by ensuring that every citizen can be heard and that no one gets unfair access to our government at the expense of everyone else. Campaign finance laws don’t stifle democracy, they enhance it. We need to fix our broken campaign finance system. People, not dollars, are the true currency of our Constitution and democracy.”