Title: Expressing the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted the First Amendment to the Constitution in the case of Buckley v. Valeo.
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted the First Amendment in the case of Buckley v. Valeo because the decision failed to recognize: (1) that the unlimited spending of large amounts of money on elections has a corrosive effect on the electoral process not simply because of direct transactions between those who give large amounts of money and candidates and elected officials but because the presence of unlimited amounts of money corrupts the process on a more fundamental level; and (2) other legitimate state interests which justify limiting money in campaigns, including the need to preserve the integrity of our republican form of government, restore public confidence in government, and ensure all citizens a more equal opportunity to participate in the political process.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 42 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 42

Expressing the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted 
   the First Amendment to the Constitution in the case of Buckley v. 
                                 Valeo.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2017

Ms. Kaptur (for herself, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Ms. Norton, Mr. Sean 
Patrick Maloney of New York, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Higgins of New York, Ms. 
 Schakowsky, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Soto, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Slaughter, and 
 Mr. Raskin) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted 
   the First Amendment to the Constitution in the case of Buckley v. 
                                 Valeo.

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted 
the First Amendment to the Constitution in its decision in the 1976 
case of Buckley v. Valeo because--
            (1) the decision failed to recognize that the unlimited 
        spending of large amounts of money on elections has a corrosive 
        effect on the electoral process not simply because of direct 
        transactions between those who give large amounts of money and 
        candidates and elected officials but because the presence of 
        unlimited amounts of money corrupts the process on a more 
        fundamental level; and
            (2) the decision failed to recognize other legitimate State 
        interests which justify limiting money in campaigns, including 
        the need to preserve the integrity of our republican form of 
        government, restore public confidence in government, and ensure 
        all citizens a more equal opportunity to participate in the 
        political process.
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