[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 50 (Monday, April 15, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E456-E457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   MARYLAND'S LEGISLATURE'S SUPPORT OF A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO 
        OVERTURN THE SUPREME COURT CASE, CITIZENS UNITED V. FEC

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 15, 2013

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following:
  In January 2010, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Citizens 
United v. FEC that fundamentally overturned American campaign finance 
laws by treating corporations as ``persons'' under the First Amendment, 
thus enabling CEOs to make unlimited expenditures from corporate 
treasuries into political campaigns. An estimated $1 billion of outside 
money, an unprecedented amount, was spent in the 2012 election. Of this 
amount, an estimated $400 million was received from anonymous sources 
as it was channeled through entities that do not have to identify their 
donors. The impact of this secret special interest money will greatly 
diminish the integrity of our electoral process.
  Many legislative solutions have been identified to correct this trend 
that damages our democracy. One alternative would reverse the decision 
of the Court through an amendment to the Constitution. Senator Jamie 
Raskin, from the State of Maryland, has made a significant contribution 
to the development of Federal legislation that would overturn the 
Citizens United case. Moreover, Senator Raskin has been a leader in the 
Maryland State Senate in amassing support from Maryland legislators to 
call upon the U.S. Congress to pass a Constitutional Amendment to 
correct this decision. I would like to commend Senator Raskin for his 
work to strengthen the integrity of our electoral process.

                                The Maryland General Assembly,

                                     Annapolis, MD, January, 2012.
       To the Honorable Members of the United States Congress: We, 
     the Undersigned Members of the Maryland General Assembly, 
     call upon you to pass a constitutional amendment to reverse 
     the United States Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling in Citizens 
     United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), which declared 
     that corporations enjoy the First Amendment political rights 
     of the people and toppled dozens of state and federal laws 
     and many decades of judicial precedent preventing 
     corporations (and unions) from spending corporate (and union) 
     treasury funds in political campaigns.
       This radical departure from judicial precedent and 
     democratic values has already brought a torrent of corporate 
     money, much of it secret, into American politics, 
     fundamentally distorting public elections and campaigns for 
     public office. The decision poses a direct and dramatic 
     threat to government ``of the people, by the people and for 
     the people.''
       By bringing corporations into the heart of the political 
     process, Citizens United changes the character of democracy. 
     For-profit corporations (except benefit corporations) are 
     legally hound to pursue the maximization of profits and 
     economic advantage in all of their endeavors. This is one 
     reason why most United States Supreme Court Justices, from 
     Chief Justice john Marshall to Chief Justice William 
     Rehnquist. to Justice Byron White to the four dissenting 
     justices in Citizens United v. FEC, have rejected the claim 
     that corporations have political rights.
       Corporations enjoy special state-conferred economic and 
     legal advantages not enjoyed by natural persons, including 
     limited liability of the shareholders, perpetual life of the 
     corporation itself, and favorable treatment of the 
     accumulation and distribution of assets. These advantages 
     permit corporations to amass vast sums of money that are 
     spent properly for economic purposes but not for the purposes 
     of intervening in democratic politics and entrenching 
     corporate power.
       Article V of the United States Constitution empowers the 
     people, the states and the Congress to use the constitutional 
     amending process to protect republican self-government.
       This power has repeatedly been used by the people when the 
     Supreme Court has undermined the progress or popular 
     democracy.
       As Members of the Maryland General Assembly, we sharply 
     disagree with the majority decision in Citizens United v. 
     Federal Election Commission and call upon the United States 
     Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification 
     as soon as is practicable a constitutional amendment to 
     reverse this decision and restore fair elections and 
     democratic sovereignty to the states and to the people.
           Very truly yours,
       Del. Aisha Braveboy; Del. Alfred Carr; Del. Ana Sol 
     Gutierrez; Del. Anne Healey; Del. Anne Kaiser; Del. Ariana 
     Kelly; Del. Aruna Miller; Del. Barbara Frush; Del. Benjamin 
     Kramer; Del. Bonnie Cullison; Del. Brian Feldman; Del. Brian 
     McHale; Del. C.T. Wilson; Del. Cheryl Glenn; Del. Craig 
     Zucker; Del. Curt Anderson; Del. Dan Morhaim; Del. Dana 
     Stein; Del. Doyle Niemann; Del. Elizabeth Bobo.
       Del. Emmett Burns; Del. Eric Leudtke; Del. Frank Turner; 
     Del. Galen Clagett; Del. Geraldine Valentino-Smith; Del. Guy 
     Guzzone; Del. Hattie Harrison; Del. Heather Mizeur; Del. 
     James Gilchrist; Del. James Hubbard; Del. James Malone; Del. 
     James Proctor; Del. Jay Walker; Del. Jill Carter; Del. Jon 
     Cardin; Del. John Olszewski; Del. John Wood; Del. Jolene 
     Ivey; Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk; Del. Joseph Minnick.
       Del. Joseph Vallario; Del. Justin Ross; Del. Kathleen 
     Dumais; Del. Keiffer Mitchell; Del. Keith Haynes; Del. Kiri11 
     Reznick; Del. Kris Valderama; Del. Kumar Barve; Del. Luke 
     Clippinger; Del. Maggie McIntosh; Del. Marvin Holmes; Del. 
     Mary Washington; Del. Melvin Stukes; Del. Michael Summers; 
     Del. Michael Weir; Del. Norman Conway; Del. Pamela Beidle; 
     Del. Peter Hammen; Del. Peter Murphy; Del. Rudolph Cane.
       Del. Sam Arora; Del. Sandy Rosenberg; Del. Shane 
     Pendergrass; Del. Shane Robinson; Del. Shaw Tarrant; Del. 
     Sheila Hixson; Del. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam; Del. Stephen 
     Lafferty; Del. Steven DeBoy; Del. Susan Lee; Del. Talmedge 
     Branch; Del. Tawanna Gaines; Del. Theodore Sophocleus; Del. 
     Tom Hucker; Del. Veronica Turner; Sen. Bill Ferguson; Sen. 
     Brian Frosh; Sen. Catherine Pugh; Sen. Delores Kelley; Sen. 
     Edward Kasemeyer.
       Sen. James Brochin; Sen. James Robey; Sen. James Rosapepe; 
     Sen. Jamie Raskin; Sen. Jennie Forehand; Sen. Joan Carter-
     Conway; Sen. Joanne Benson; Sen. John Astle; Sen. Karen 
     Montgomery; Sen. Katherine Klausmeier; Sen. Lisa Gladden; 
     Sen. Nancy King; Sen. Nathaniel McFadden; Sen. Norman Stone; 
     Sen. Paul Pinsky; Sen. Richard Madaleno; Sen. Robert 
     Garagiola; Sen. Robert Zirkin; Sen. Roger Manno; Sen. Ronald 
     Young; Sen. Thomas Middleton; Sen. Ulysses Currie; Sen. Verna 
     Jones Rodwell; Sen. Victor Ramirez.

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