Media Center

Tonight in passing the For the People Act (H.R. 1), Members of the U.S. House of Representatives made it clear that democracy must put people first and should represent everyone. The Senate must follow suit in listening to the people, and Senators must not let the filibuster stand in the way of safeguarding our democracy.

Today, Common Cause urged every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote “yes” on the For the People Act (H.R. 1) when it goes to a floor vote on Wednesday. The letter notes that Common Cause plans to key-vote final passage of H.R. 1, and possibly amendments that would weaken the bill, in our next Democracy Scorecard, which we send to our 1.5 million members. The pro-voter, anti-corruption bill contains the most comprehensive set of democracy reforms to be introduced in Congress since the post-Watergate reforms were passed in the 1970s. The letter emphasizes that our democracy faces a crisis in the wake of insurrectionists storming the Capitol and more than 250 GOP voter suppression bills – largely targeting Black and Brown Americans - introduced in state legislatures since Republicans lost the White House and control of the Senate.

Minority Leader McConnell’s (R-KY) decision to hold up the Senate’s organizing resolution over the filibuster rule was a trial balloon that failed. Americans voted for change and they expect the new President and the new Congress to address the pressing health, financial, structural racism, climate, and democracy crises facing our nation. McConnell, a fierce architect of obstruction throughout his tenure in Congress, has signaled his plans for the 117th Congress: Delay, deny, and distort the Majority’s right to set the chamber’s agenda at every turn. We have seen this before when McConnell spent six years abusing the filibuster at unprecedented levels during the Obama administration. This cannot be allowed to happen again.

Americans expect and deserve a strong inclusive democracy. We commend Leader Schumer, Senator Merkley and Senator Klobuchar for pledging to introduce the For the People Act as the first bill of the new Congress – S.1. The Senate now joins the House in making this bill the top legislative priority.

Today, the Common Cause Education Fund is pleased to announce it is a recipient of Lumina Foundation’s racial equity funding program to expand the Student Action Alliance. The Student Action Alliance is a program for students of color that is led by a team of Black millennials. The program focuses on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and students of color at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). The two-year $200,000 grant, which is part of the Lumina Foundation’s $15 million effort to help eradicate systematic racism, will allow the Common Cause Education Fund to increase its staff capacity and expand our program to additional HBCUs and to other Minority Serving Institutions.

Americans expect and deserve a strong democracy, but we can never take the health of our democratic system for granted. The For the People Act (H.R. 1) brings to bear transformative reforms that will help safeguard our democracy which has been increasingly under attack by enemies both foreign and domestic. It has become clear that we must shore up the defenses of our democracy by expanding access to the franchise, empowering the voices of everyday Americans in our elections, and upholding strong ethical standards in government. H.R. 1 contains reforms that address all three pillars. Many of the solutions in H.R. 1 have worked successfully at the state and local level for years.