League Endorses Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act

The League endorsed the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act introduced by Senator Warren. The legislation will eliminate the influence of money in our federal government, and ensure that Washington works for working families. The legislation was introduced in August 2018.

August 21, 2018
  
Honorable Elizabeth Warren
United States Senate
317 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
  
Dear Senator Warren:
  
We write to endorse the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act, your comprehensive legislation to eliminate the influence of money in our federal government, and to ensure that Washington works for working families.
  
Our democracy is under threat – a threat that has been growing since long before the 2016 Presidential election. Corporations and the wealthy routinely leverage their money and power to hijack our government and stack the deck in their favor, leaving American families to suffer the consequences. Year after year, the American people see a government that works extremely well for wealthy individuals and corporations and yet ignores the pressing needs, problems, and concerns of hard working families.
  
Public service is a trust, yet today too many top officials routinely abuse that trust by leveraging their government service and connections for their own benefit or the benefit of the individuals and companies they’re supposed to police. And every day, Washington proves who it really works for: the revolving door between industry and Washington allows giant corporations to ensure that policymakers are their allies; corporate lobbyists write our laws and policies; wealthy industries capture our courts and warp our regulatory process to scuttle, weaken, and even kill rules that protect consumers, our environment, and working families; there is little accountability for gross ethical violations and conflicts of interests; and much of this happens behind closed doors, outside the scrutiny of the public eye.
  
It is time for Congress to do what the American people are demanding and take bold and aggressive action to strengthen the integrity of the federal government and build a democracy that works for everyone. Our current system of anti-corruption laws is wholly inadequate for the challenges our democracy faces today. We need comprehensive and structural reforms to rebalance power in Washington, to empower everyday Americans, and to create meaningful and enforceable public ethics standards.
  
The Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act is a bold and comprehensive set of policy solutions that would fundamentally change the way Washington works, and we are proud to endorse it. We of course support campaign finance reforms to reduce the influence of money in electing candidates to federal office, but as crucial as they are, we know those reforms alone will be insufficient. America also needs the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act to address the broad, corrupting influence of corporations over federal government policymaking.
  
The American people deserve a democracy that lives up to the promise of our founding documents—a
government of the people, by the people, for the people. It’s long past time for Congress to act like it
and pass this bill.
  
Sincerely,

Organizations:
20/20 Vision
AFL-CIO
American Family Voices
American Federation of Teachers
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
Campaign for Accountability
Center for Common Ground
Center for Emergent Diplomacy
Citizens' Environmental Coalition
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG)
Consumer Action
Daily Kos
Demand Progress Action
Democracy 21
Empire State Consumer Project, Inc.
End Citizens United
Endangered Species Coalition
Every Voice
Franciscan Action Network
Free Press Action
Government Accountability Project
Government Information Watch
Greenpeace
Indivisible
International Corporate Accountability Roundtable
Jobs to Move America
League of Women Voters of the United States
Legit Action
National Center for Health Research (NCHR)
National Employment Lawyers Association
Newground Social Investment
Open the Government
Orion Partners
People Demanding Action
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Public Citizen
Revolving Door Project
SAFER -- A Committee of Economists and other Experts for Stable, Accountable, Fair and
Efficient Financial Reform
Sciencecorps
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sunlight Foundation
Woodstock Institute
www.CareForCrashVictims.com
Individuals:
Ambassador (ret.) Norman Eisen, Obama White House Ethics Czar (2009-11)
Prof. Lisa Heinzerling, Georgetown University Law Center
Lawrence Noble, Former General Counsel, Federal Election Commission
Sidney A. Shapiro, Frank U. Fletcher Chair of Administrative Law, Wake Forest University
Prof. James A. Thurber
Prof. Wendy Wagner, University of Texas