Democracy Spring: Money in Politics
Floor Speech
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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. I thank my colleague so much for taking the leadership this evening on such an important and central issue. It is really about our democracy.
Our country has long been known and respected around the world as a beacon of democracy. We aspire to let every person participate in our system of government and give each person's views and votes equal weight. But today our democracy itself is in jeopardy.
Instead of promoting voter participation, States are erecting barriers to keep Americans from voting. Instead of giving people an equal voice in our elections, corporations and the wealthy are claiming outsized influence. The Supreme Court, tasked with protecting our rights, is being crippled by congressional inaction.
Over the past days, thousands of Americans have come to Washington to demand that we restore American democracy. I join them in their call for action: Pass the Voting Rights Amendment Act, stop the outsized role that money plays in politics, and fill the vacancy on our Supreme Court.
Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act broadened access to democracy and fulfilled the promise of the 15th Amendment. It ensured that every American had the opportunity to take part in the democratic process.
But in recent years, courts and State legislatures have torn away at these rights. In 2013, the Supreme Court rolled back voter protections with its misguided Shelby County decision, striking down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
Before the Shelby County decision, the Voting Rights Act required States with a history of voter discrimination to clear any changes that they wanted to make to their voting laws in advance.
What happened when this provision got struck down? No surprise. Certain States rushed to pass new voting restrictions.
On the very day of the ruling, Texas officials announced they would implement a photo ID law that had previously been blocked.
North Carolina went even further, imposing a strict photo ID law as well as cutting back early voting and reducing the time period for voter registration. This law disproportionately affects communities of color.
This November is the first Presidential election since the weakening of the Voting Rights Act. Sixteen States now have new voting restrictions in place.
The Voting Rights Amendment Act, introduced by my Republican colleague, Mr. Sensenbrenner, would restore key protections of the Voting Rights Act.
Despite bipartisan support for this bill, House leadership has simply failed to take action. The inaction is unforgivable.
But voting rights are not the only part of our democratic process that is under attack. Citizens United, another misguided Supreme Court decision, has unleashed a flood of money from rich donors and powerful corporations that is now drowning out the voice of the American people.
In the 2014 elections, the top 100 donors to super-PACs gave nearly as much as 4.75 million small donors combined. This election cycle, the Koch brothers alone have pledged to spend almost $900 million.
Just in the early phase of the 2016 Presidential race, 158 families were responsible for more than half of all the money raised in Presidential campaigns.
The American people want action. They are demanding that we get money out of politics--the big money. Congress continues to ignore the will of the American people. Republican leadership has failed to take legislative action to address the egregious spending allowed by the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. For example, they haven't brought up H.R. 20, the Government By the People Act, which would provide matching funds for candidates who agree to rely on small donors to fund their campaigns. This would empower individuals to support candidates and balance the influence of big money.
This is the sort of legislation the House ought to be considering. We don't just need legislative fixes, though. Repairing our democracy also requires confirming justices who understand that corporations are not people and money is not speech. But here, too, Republicans are refusing to do their job.
On March 16, President Obama fulfilled his constitutional duty--you can read it in the Constitution--by nominating D.C. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. But even before Garland's nomination was announced--in fact, just about an hour after Judge Antonin Scalia passed away--Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised nothing but obstruction. He said he would not hold a hearing, he would not have a vote, and that this was going to wait until the next election.
Republican Senators have refused to hold hearings, they have refused to have an up-or-down vote, and many of them have refused to even meet with the nominee at all. Even those Senate Republicans who haven't publicly endorsed this obstruction are doing the bare minimum. They may have courtesy meetings, they may even say they would support hearings, or maybe even a vote, but words are not enough. We need action, not photo ops.
The Constitution makes clear that the President--the sitting President, this President, Barack Obama--nominates judges to the Supreme Court. Then the Senate's job is to advise and consent on the President's nominee. It doesn't say: and you only do it in the first 7 years of a President's term, and you don't do anything in the last year of a President's term. There is simply no excuse for the Senate to resist taking any action.
I find it really disrespectful to the American people and I find it disrespectful to this President that they are saying that he cannot have the right; as every other President in history, even in the last year of his term, has had to nominate and have considered, and, in fact, all of those nominated in the last year were actually approved. So there is no excuse for the Senate to resist taking any action.
Senate Republicans are putting politics ahead of the Constitution. That is not democracy. Big donors are not democracy. Taking away voting rights is not democracy.
It is time for this House of Representatives to really represent the American people, listen to their calls for change, and take action to strengthen our democracy.
Again, I thank my colleague for yielding.
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