With the House expected to vote March 8 on the For the People Act, People For the American Way is once again urging members to vote yes on this critical legislation and against any weakening amendments or motions to recommit. You can download our letter here.

Dear Member of Congress:

You have an historic opportunity to shape and support the most consequential democracy, ethics, and voting rights legislation to pass the House of Representatives in decades. H.R. 1, appropriately named the For the People Act, is a monumentally important piece of legislation that can help restore the American people’s faith in our government.

On behalf of People For the American Way’s more than 1.5 million supporters, we urge you to vote yes on H.R. 1 when it comes to the floor, and to shield this critical legislation from any attacks that will inevitably come in the form of weakening amendments or motions to recommit.

Spurious and misleading arguments are being made against H.R. 1 by opponents who want to maintain an unjustifiable status quo. These arguments should be recognized for what they are—desperate attempts to prevent meaningful action to repair our political system, revitalize our democracy, and help fulfill the promise of political equality for all.

There are many challenges facing our democracy: partisan gerrymandering where politicians draw their own districts, unlimited secret money as a result of the disastrous Citizens United ruling and other related cases, voter suppression including discriminatory voter ID laws and voter roll purges, and other egregious efforts to concentrate power in the hands of a few. H.R. 1 is a holistic approach to address these and other threats facing our democracy. The legislation provides essential solutions to:

• The influence of money in politics and the appearance of such corruption;
• Indefensible barriers to citizens registering and exercising their fundamental right to vote;
• Extreme partisan gerrymandering that deprives the American people of fair elections; and
• Deeply flawed ethics rules, resulting in widespread abuses of power and conflicts of interest.

Additionally, as the bill is debated, there will be and have already been many amendments proposed. Generally, we support amendments that strengthen the bill, but one that we want to call specific attention to Amendment 61 from Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., which prevents corporate expenditures for campaign purposes unless the corporation establishes reasonable procedures for informing and receiving consent from shareholders. The Raskin amendment provides an important additional check on corporate spending in our elections.

Thank you for your consideration. The American people are hungry for the reforms embodied by H.R. 1. We urge you to stand with us and vote on the right side of history.

Sincerely,

Marge Baker
Executive Vice President for Policy and Program