Dear walt, Denver Metro Denver Move to Amend / Overturn Citizens United Supporter: Congress is about to be in recess for 2 weeks beginning April 8. Besides all of many RESISTANCE actions you are taking, please consider this - AND TAKE ACTION!! If Congresswoman Diana DeGette is your U.S. Representative, please write or call her now (contact info and scripts below) and urge her to support the “We the People” Amendment – which - AS YOU KNOW - would overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision - and which would allow Congress to regulate campaign contributions and spending and to nix constitutional rights wrongly given to corporations by the Supreme Court. The link: We the People Amendment For months, Metro Denver Move to Amend (MDMTA) has been encouraging Rep. DeGette to co-sponsor House Joint Resolution 48 (HJR48), the “We the People” Amendment - supported by Move to Amend. We’ve met with and otherwise communicated with her staff. Why doesn’t she support it? The $64 million dollar question! We had high hopes she would sign on as a co-sponsor of HJR48. The Congresswoman herself has said that “Everybody agrees that big money has a poisonous effect on our political system.” Prior to the November 2016 election, DeGette said she hoped the Supreme Court would overturn Citizens United. Unlikely? Rep. DeGette has responded that she has “First Amendment concerns” about HJR 48 - with no further explanation. We are trying to divine which part or parts of the proposed amendment worry her - and to ask her to specific so that we can respond. Does Rep. DeGette see the section declaring that corporations have no constitutional rights as a threat to the First Amendment? Does she believe calling for elected officials to regulate campaign finance threatens our freedom of speech? MDMTA has asked to meet with her to discuss her concerns and to allow MDMTA to share the views of well-respected Constitutional scholars who believe Citizens United was wrongly decided. The Congresswoman has not responded. Democrat DeGette represents Congressional District 1 - which includes all of Denver County. The 2016 Platforms of both the Democratic Party of Denver and the Colorado Democratic Party contain provisions that mirror HJR 48 - and call upon our elected officials to support an amendment to the U.S. constitutional to overturn Citizens United, to declare that corporations do not have the same inalienable constitutional rights as natural persons and that money is not speech and accordingly, that campaign funding and spending can be regulated by Congress. Help us change her opinion!! Tell Rep. DeGette that she should back HJR 48. Contact her office by phone (Denver 303-844-4988 or D.C. 202-225-4431) or in writing (see suggested letter below). Here is a suggested call script: I urge Rep. DeGette to co-sponsor HJR 48, the “We the People Amendment,” which states constitutional rights are for natural persons only and elected governments can regulate political contributions and spending. I encourage Rep. DeGette to meet with Metro Denver Move to Amend to discuss the We the People Amendment and how it relates to our critical the First Amendment rights. ****************** And your suggested letter: ****************** Dear Representative DeGette: I am a constituent in your District - in zip code 80_____ . I am writing to urge you to co-sponsor HJR 48, the “We the People” Amendment. The amendment will overturn Citizens United by clearly stating that constitutional rights are for natural persons only and elected governments can regulate political contributions and spending. We need this to stop the corrupting influence of money in politics. Please meet with Metro Denver Move to Amend to discuss HJR 48. We want to hear the specifics of your objections and First Amendment concerns and want to share with you the views of respected Constitutional scholars about First Amendment speech rights and democracy. Sincerely, (Your name and address) ***************** THANK YOU FOR TAKING ACTION!! More Contact Information: U.S. Representative Diana DeGette E-Mail: https://degette.house.gov/contact/send-me-an-email/email-me Mail – or deliver to the Denver Office: 600 Grant Street, Suite 202 Denver, CO 80203-3525 Phone: (303) 844-4988 Fax: (303) 844-4996 ***************** |