Subject: [big campaign] FW: NEWS: LARSON EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR NEW CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM IN WAKE OF MCCAIN-FEINGOLD SUPREME COURT CHALLENGE
From: David Donnelly <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:59:00 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 9, 2009

CONTACT: Emily Barocas/202-225-7295

LARSON EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR NEW CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM IN WAKE OF
MCCAIN-FEINGOLD SUPREME COURT CHALLENGE

Washington, DC -- Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01), Chairman of the House
Democratic Caucus, responded today to the arguments before the Supreme Court
over the constitutionality on restrictions to political campaign
contributions by corporations.  Congressman Larson is the author of the Fair
Elections Now Act (FENA), H.R. 1826, in the House of Representatives,
legislation that would end the hunt for big dollar donations to political
campaigns and allow Members of Congress to get back to doing the work the
people sent them to Washington to do.

Larson, said, ³The hearing before the Supreme Court today is further
evidence of how broken our campaign finance system is and how badly we need
true reform.  Today, Members of Congress are forced to spend too much time
dialing for dollars.  This distracting hunt for campaign contributions takes
us away from the real reason we came to Washington  to do the people¹s
business.

³That is why I authored the Fair Elections Now Act - comprehensive reform
that would give candidates and Members of Congress alike an opportunity to
concentrate on talking to constituents rather than donors and studying
issues rather than call sheets.  FENA would be exempt from the
constitutional challenges that have been raised against the McCain-Feingold
campaign finance reform law.  It would offer candidates the choice of
accessing public funds for their campaigns if they reach a certain threshold
of support and forego big dollar fundraising in exchange for the sort of
grassroots small donor efforts we saw Barack Obama use so successfully in
his presidential campaign.

³By taking the special interests and corporations out of our electoral
process we would put the American people back in charge.  We heard that from
experts at our hearing on FENA before the House Administration Committee and
we¹ve seen that example as states around the country have implemented their
own Fair Elections systems.  Today¹s hearing at the Supreme Court reaffirms
my support for the Fair Elections Now Act and I will continue to work to
bring the bill for a vote on the floor of the House.²

Monica Youn, Counsel at New York University School of Law¹s Brennan Center
for Justice said, ³FENA doesn¹t contain any features that courts have found
to raise constitutional issues.  Instead, the Supreme Court and other courts
have consistently upheld the constitutionality of public financing systems,
such as FENA.² 

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