[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5041]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    BUCKLEY V. VALEO REINTRODUCTION

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a resolution: 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted 
the First Amendment to the Constitution in the case of Buckley v. 
Valeo.
  This resolution will restore equal footing to all Americans in our 
Nation's politics.
  The landmark Supreme Court case Buckley v. Valeo was decided over 40 
years ago. Then-Justice Byron White called the decision ``a mortal 
danger against which effective preventive and curative steps must be 
taken.''
  In the wake of the recent Presidential election where spending 
approached $5 billion, we clearly see the influence of big money. That 
money exerts an inordinate amount of influence over our politics. True 
to form, it appears to have endowed donors with an unusually high 
number of Cabinet positions in the Trump administration. Over one-third 
of President Trump's high-level government posts were awarded to 
megacampaign donors.
  Congress must end the current practice of allowing elections to be 
bought by the highest bidder. If money equals free speech, then lack of 
money equals lack of free speech.
  We must ensure that our campaigns are reflective of the people's 
voices. Buckley v. Valeo took away this inviolate First Amendment right 
from the people, and this resolution is the remedy to restore it.

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