May 31, 2013
Mr. Stephen
Greenleaf
345 Magowan Ave
Iowa City, IA 52246-3515
345 Magowan Ave
Iowa City, IA 52246-3515
Dear Stephen:
Thank you for
contacting me regarding campaign finance reform. I appreciate hearing from you
on this important matter.
As the cost of
running for office continues to rise, the integrity of the campaign process
continues to wane. This is why I have continually fought for a major overhaul
of campaign financing. I believe that placing strict limits on individual,
corporate, and PAC contributions would make races fair and more competitive.
And, it is also why I co-sponsored the Fair Elections Now Act, which would
create a voluntary, publicly financed system to cover Congressional campaigns.
In addition, I
strongly disagree with the Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal
Election Commission (FEC) that the government cannot limit independent corporate
spending on elections. The Court's holding was based on two faulty premises,
that corporations, perhaps even including corporations controlled by foreign
nationals, have the same rights as individual citizens under the First
Amendment, and that the ability to spend money is the same as freedom of
speech. While I have always been a strong advocate of protecting the First
Amendment, I do not consider granting corporations unlimited financial
influence on elections to be an issue of free speech. If money is considered
speech, wealthy Americans suddenly have a stronger voice than anyone else.
The Court's
decision is deeply harmful to our democracy. It limits our ability to restrict
the influence of special interests and to restrain the ability of corporations
to use their vast resources to distort our campaign process. This
decision, which overturned well-established precedent and a law that has served
our country well for over 60 years, is also a blatant exercise of judicial
activism.
Because I feel so
strongly that the court profoundly erred in Citizens United, in the last
Congress I cosponsored a constitutional amendment which would overturn the
Citizens United decision and give Congress the power to pass meaningful
campaign finance reform and limit corporate influence on elections. This
constitutional amendment has yet to be re-introduced in the current
Congress. However, if it is re-introduced I expect that I will sponsor it
once again.
While the Supreme
Court has prevented Congress from eliminating corporate influence on our
elections, at the very least voters should know who is trying to influence our
democracy. That is why I also a cosponsored the Democracy Is Strengthened
by Casting Light On Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, which would limit the
harm of the Court's decision, improve the health of our democracy, and restore
integrity to our electoral process. So the public will know who is funding
political advertisements, the bill will hold corporations accountable by
requiring them to publicly disclose the money they spend on influencing
elections. Unfortunately, when this important bill was considered in the
Senate last Congress, a minority of Senators blocked the legislation from
coming to a final vote. Similar legislation has not yet been introduced
this Congress, but I am hopeful that the Senate will address this important
matter in the near future.
We need to have a
campaign finance structure which limits the influence of the special interests,
restores integrity to the democratic process, and buttresses America's
confidence in our democracy. As I have in the past, I will continue to fight
for an election system to accomplish all of these things.
Again, thank you
for sharing your views with me. Please do not hesitate to let me know how you
feel on any issue that concerns you.
Sincerely,
Tom Harkin
United States Senator
United States Senator
SNG: Pretty good. I still, however, would like him & others to take the Rootstrikers pledge that Lawrence Lessig is pressing.
