During a Senate Committee hearing on campaign finance with former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Klobuchar underscored the need to take meaningful steps to restore people’s trust in the election process, particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s recent McCutcheon decision that gives special interests even more power in our political system 

Klobuchar is a cosponsor of a constitutional amendment to allow Congress to override the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, and has cosponsored legislation to boost transparency in political spending by special interests 

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar today emphasized that our country can’t allow special interest spending on elections to drown out the voices of the American people. During a Senate Committee hearing on campaign finance with former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Klobuchar underscored the need to take meaningful steps to restore people’s trust in the election process, particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s recent McCutcheon decision that gives special interests even more power in in our political system. Klobuchar is cosponsor of a constitutional amendment to allow Congress to override the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, and has cosponsored legislation to boost transparency in political spending by special interests.

“Citizens United triggered an avalanche of special interest spending that has undermined our elections, and the Supreme Court’s McCutcheon decision will only make things worse,” Klobuchar said. “I frequently hear from Minnesotans who are concerned that this type of outside money and influence has a corrosive effect on our democracy. We need to takes steps to restore peoples’ trust in our electoral process and ensure that the voices of the American people are heard.”

Since the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, which allows special interests to spend unlimited amounts of money on federal election activity, Super PACs and other outside groups have dramatically increased their spending on federal elections. Klobuchar cosponsored the DISCLOSE Act to help promote transparency in political spending by Super PACs and other groups. The bill required certain organizations that spend over $10,000 on campaign activity to disclose their spending to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) within 24 hours and list any donor who gives over $10,000 to the organization. Klobuchar is also cosponsor of a constitutional amendment to allow Congress to override the Supreme Court’s decisions in Citizens United and McCutcheon.   

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