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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