Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar cosponsored a constitutional amendment to allow Congress to override the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling and move forward with campaign finance reform. The amendment, introduced by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), would explicitly authorize Congress to regulate the raising of money for federal campaigns, including independent expenditures like those from Super PACs.  The amendment would not specify any policies or regulations, instead enabling Congress to pass campaign finance reform legislation. The amendment also expressly states that any regulation cannot limit the freedom of the press.

“I hear constantly from Minnesotans who believe, justifiably, that the unprecedented level of spending by Super PACs and other outside groups serves only to drown out their own voices,”said Klobuchar. “This amendment will increase transparency in our elections and help restore the American people’s trust in our election process while protecting our most important freedoms.”

Since theCitizens 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. Last year, 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.    

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