Joint Letter to Congress

To: Members of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate
From: Undersigned Coalition of Movements & Organizations

Subject: Joint Letter | The Mandate Is Clear: House and Senate Leaders Must Stand Up to Corporate Power and Prioritize the We the People Amendment in the First 100 Days

Dear Members of Congress,

The election results have delivered an undeniable mandate: the American people demand structural transformation.

Our communities have faced an unprecedented onslaught—from climate denial and environmental destruction to attacks on basic human rights, endless war, aggressive immigration enforcement, and skyrocketing economic inequality. While these crises present in different forms, they stem from a single, corrupt foundation: a political system that prioritizes corporate profits and concentrated wealth over human lives.

Supreme Court rulings like Citizens United v. FEC have handed our democracy over to deep-pocketed special interests by treating political spending as constitutionally protected free speech and granting corporations the same rights as human beings. Working within the rules of this broken system is no longer enough. We will not go back to a status quo that sacrifices our future for corporate greed. Now is the time to fix the foundation of our democracy.

We, the undersigned coalition of civil rights, climate, labor, peace, and democracy organizations, stand united in demanding systemic constitutional reform. We call on every Member of Congress in both chambers to take immediate action:

1. For House Members — Co-Sponsor H.J. Res. 54 (The We the People Amendment): Add your name to Representative Pramila Jayapal’s joint resolution to establish once and for all that constitutional rights belong exclusively to natural persons—human beings—and that money spent to influence elections is not protected free speech and must be regulated.
2. For Senators — Introduce and Co-Sponsor a Senate Companion Resolution: Introduce and co-sponsor a Senate companion to H.J. Res. 54, ensuring both chambers move synchronously toward amending the Constitution to end corporate constitutional rights and money as speech.
3. Reject Corporate Control of Congressional Leadership: We call on Congress to oppose candidates for Speaker and other leadership positions who put corporate donors ahead of the people they represent. Support leaders who will publicly commit to keeping corporate PACs and dark-money groups from setting the agenda, holding hearings on the We the People Amendment within the first 100 days of the new Congress, and bringing it to the House floor for a vote.

The mandate for structural change is clear. We urge you to listen to the public, champion the We the People Amendment in both the House and the Senate immediately, and help pass the constitutional amendment needed to build a democracy that works for We the People.

Sincerely,
Move to Amend Coalition

When the U.S. Supreme Court decided that corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money from their corporate treasuries in U.S. elections (Citizens United v FEC, 2010), they justified the decision by saying that U.S. corporations were “associations of citizens.”

However, over 40% of all the shares held in US corporations are held by foreign investors, not U.S. citizens, living outside of the U.S. These corporations then spend millions in California elections, even though U.S. election law stipulates that no foreign money is allowed in U.S. elections, contributed either “directly or indirectly.”

Citizens United opened a loophole: Foreign governments, foreign businesses and foreign individuals can invest in U.S. corporations, and those corporations can spend unlimited amounts from their corporate treasuries on U.S. elections.

 AB 83, the Get Foreign Money Out of California Elections Act, closes the loophole that allows foreign money to pour into California campaigns, candidates, political parties, PACs, Super-PACS and ballot measures “indirectly", undermining our capacity for self-governance.

Earlier this year, Minnesota closed the loophole, prohibiting multinational corporations from spending money on state elections. We can do the same in California. Multinational influence is a threat to U.S. sovereignty and to our national security – international interests can easily, and often do, diverge from U.S. interests. There should not be any foreign money in our elections.

Join us in support of AB 83 and urge the California Assembly to pass this legislation and close this loophole immediately.

 Sign now in support of AB 83, the Get Foreign Money Out of California Elections Act.