Bill Text: GA HR1377 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: United States Supreme Court; ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission; oppose
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-17 - House Second Readers [HR1377 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2011-HR1377-Introduced.html
12 LC 93
0741
House
Resolution 1377
By:
Representatives Benfield of the
85th,
Oliver of the
83rd,
Ashe of the
56th,
Abrams of the
84th,
Hugley of the
133rd,
and others
A
RESOLUTION
Opposing
the United States Supreme Court's ruling in
Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission concerning
corporate campaign spending and urging Congress to propose an amendment to the
United States Constitution; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
on January 21, 2010, the United States Supreme Court, by a five-to-four decision
in Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission, overturned
several important provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, as
well as earlier Supreme Court decisions, and swept away a century of tradition
barring corporate spending in elections in the United States; and
WHEREAS,
the United States Supreme Court's ruling holds that corporations are people with
free speech rights under the United States Constitution and may engage in
unlimited corporate spending in elections; and
WHEREAS,
Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission unleashed a
torrent of corporate money into the political process unmatched by any campaign
expenditure totals in United States history; and
WHEREAS,
Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission purports to
invalidate state laws and even state constitutional provisions separating
corporate money from elections; and
WHEREAS,
Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission presents a
serious and direct threat to republican democracy; and
WHEREAS,
the decision in
Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission grants power
to corporate interests and threatens to overwhelm the voices of individual
citizens in the political process; and
WHEREAS,
Article V of the United States Constitution empowers and obligates the people
and states of the United States of America to use the constitutional amendment
process to correct those egregiously wrong decisions of the United States
Supreme Court that go to the heart of democracy and republican self-government;
and
WHEREAS,
the people and states of the United States of America have strengthened the
nation and preserved liberty and equality for all by using the amendment process
throughout history, including seven of the ten decades of the 20th century, and
through the amendment process have reversed seven erroneous Supreme Court
decisions.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of
this body oppose the United States Supreme Court's decision in
Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission and urge the
United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification an
amendment to the United States Constitution to restore republican democracy to
the people of the United States.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized
and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the Georgia
congressional delegation.
