Biden Announces A First Priority for a Biden Administration Will Be Comprehensive Reforms, as Reflected in H.R. 1

Biden Announces A First Priority for a Biden Administration Will Be Comprehensive Reforms, as Reflected in H.R. 1

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced yesterday “A first priority of a Biden Administration will be to lead on a comprehensive set of reforms like those reflected in the For the People Act (H.R. 1) to end special interest control of Washington and protect the voice and vote of every American.”With this announcement, former Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer are now all on record that H.R. 1 is a first or top priority for them.

Furthermore, every House Democrat has supported H.R. 1, which passed the House on March 8, 2018, and every Senate Democrat and two Senate independents, or 47 Senators, have sponsored its Senate companion measure, S. 949.

“We are within striking distance of enacting historic democracy reform legislation that would repair our broken political system and our corrupt campaign finance system,” according to Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer.

“H.R. 1 addresses fundamental governance problems including political money corruption in Washington, voter suppression and discrimination, partisan gerrymandering, government ethics abuses and foreign interference in our elections,” according to Wertheimer.

Biden also announced that a Biden administration is committed to:

• Ending the dominance of big money in politics by bringing dark money into the light, empowering small donors in our elections through a small dollar public financing program for federal elections and introducing a constitutional amendment to entirely eliminate private dollars from our federal elections, and strengthening rules and enforcement of our campaign finance laws.
• Making sure every vote is counted and protected by ending discrimination at the ballot box, making it safer and easier to vote, ending gerrymandering, and giving states and localities the funding they need to maintain the integrity of our elections particularly during the current health pandemic.
• Ensuring accountability in Washington by strengthening ethics rules for federal officials, reducing the power of lobbyists, and giving ethics watchdogs more power to hold violators accountable.

The Declaration for American Democracy coalition (DFAD), which includes Democracy 21, has led the outside campaign for the passage of H.R. 1 and its unprecedented democracy reforms.

DFAD, formed in 2018, is a coalition of 150 organizations that includes groups from the labor, racial justice, faith, women’s rights, environmental, good government, and many other important communities.

The following is a list of the 150 groups that make up the DFAD coalition.

20/20 Vision

Alaska Public Interest Research Group

Alliance of Youth Action

All On the Line

American Federation of Teachers

American Oversight

American Promise

Arab American Institute

Bend the Arc Jewish Action

Blue Future

Blue Jean Nation

Brady United Against Gun Violence

Brave New Films

Brennan Center for Justice

Business Initiative for Health Policy

Campaign for Accountability

Campaign to Unload

Center for American Progress

Center for Common Ground

Center for Community Change Action Fund

Center for Emergent Diplomacy

Center for Media for Democracy

Center for Popular Democracy

Union of Concerned Scientists

Church Women United in New York State

Citizen Works

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Clean Elections Texas

Clean Water Action

Coalition to Preserve, Protect and Defend

Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

CODEPINK

Color of Change

Common Cause

Communications Workers of America

Concerned Citizens For Change

Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of The Good Shepherd, US Provinces

Conscious Elders Network

Corporate Accountability

Courage Campaign

CREDO

CT Citizen Action Group

Daily Kos

Defend Democracy

Demand Progress Action

Democracy 21

Democracy for America

Democracy Initiative

Democracy Matters

Democracy Spring

Demos

End Citizens United

Equal Citizens

Every Voice

Fair Vote Action

Fix Democracy First

Food and Water Watch

Franciscan Action Network

Free Speech for People

Friends of the Earth

Generation Progress

Global Witness

Greenpeace

Herd on the Hill

Illinois Democratic Women

Indivisible

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

International Corporate Accountability Roundtable

Lawyers for Good Government

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights

League of Conservation Voters

Left Action

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The League of Women Voters

The Somist Institute

Main Street Alliance

MapLight

March For Our Lives

March for Truth

MAYDAY America

Mi Familia Vota

Minnesota Citizen for Clean Elections

Missouri Jobs With Justice Voter Action

MomsRising

MoveOn

NAACP

NARAL Pro-Choice America

National Action Network

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

National Association of Social Workers

National Center for Lesbian Rights

National Center for Transgender Equality

National Council of Jewish Women

National Immigrant Justice Center

National LGBTQ Task Force

National Partnership for Women & Families

National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies

National Redistricting Action Fund

National Security Action

New Mexicans for Money out of Politics

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

New Progressive Alliance

New American Leaders Action Fund

Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance

Northwest Side Housing Center

Open Democracy

Open the Government

Organizing for Action

Participatory Politics Foundation

Pay 2 Play

Peace Action

People Demanding Action

People for the American Way

People’s Action

Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Platform

Polygon Education Fund

Power Shift Network

Presbyterian Church USA

Pride at Work

Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Progressive Democrats of America

Progressive Turnout Project

ProgressNow Colorado

Project On Government Oversight

Public Citizen

Publish What You Pay – US

Reclaim Our Democracy

Rethink Media

Revolving Door Project

Rock the Vote

RootsAction.org

Stamp Stampede

Stand Up America

State Innovation Exchange

State Voices

SEIU

Sierra Club

Southern Poverty Law Center

Student Debt Crisis

Sunlight Foundation

Take on Wall Street

The Workmen’s Circle

Tikkun’s Network of Spiritual Progressives

Truman National Security

Unitarian Universalist Association

United to Amend

UnKoch my Campus

URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity

Voices for Progress

VoteVets

We The People Massachusetts

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

Wolf PAC

Women Donors Network

Working Families Party

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