Van Hollen Statement on the One-Year Anniversary of the Citizens United Ruling

Statement

Today Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen issued the following statement on the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United:

"Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Citizens United ruling, a radical decision that allowed corporations to spend unlimited money in elections and drown out the voices of the American people. It threw out decades of precedent designed to protect the integrity of our political process and opened the floodgates to more special interest money. In the wake of the most recent midterm elections, which saw unprecedented amounts of outside spending, there is no question this ruling has changed our democratic process for the worse.

"Congress must act to shine a light on the spending of shadowy special interests and prevent foreign-controlled corporations from secretly financing political campaigns. Last year, the House passed the DISCLOSE Act to ensure that American citizens would know who is spending money to influence elections, but the legislation was blocked by Senate Republicans. We will renew our efforts this year to restore integrity and transparency to our elections."

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