Whitehouse, Langevin, Cicilline, & Gorbea Call for Federal Campaign Finance Reform

Providence, RI – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressman Jim Langevin,
Congressman David Cicilline, and Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, in
partnership with Public Citizen and Common Cause Rhode Island, will host a
roundtable discussion to call for action on federal campaign finance reform. The
event, which will be held on Tuesday, September 6, at 10:30 a.m., at Save the Bay in
Providence, comes in advance of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives
gaveling back into session later that day after summer recess, and in the midst of a
national election cycle in which outside spending by special interest groups has
outpaced candidate spending, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Participants will discuss the «We The
People» legislative package, which was
introduced in the Senate in June to deal with secret corporate political spending,
lobbyist influence, the revolving door, and other facets of the campaign finance
system to help level the playing field and take back our democracy for regular
Americans. We the People includes the DISCLOSE Act, legislation introduced by
Whitehouse that would require disclosure of donations greater than $10,000 to
organizations spending at least $10,000 in an election. Rhode Island passed similar
legislation in 2012.

At the event, the Washington D.C.-based non-profit Public Citizen will present a
petition signed by more than 4,000 Rhode Islanders calling for an amendment to
overturn the 2010 Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court, which unleashed a
torrent of special interest money into the political system.