Press Releases

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03) voted in favor of the For the People Act, also known as H.R. 1. This landmark democracy protection legislation was designed to strengthen public trust in the political process and hold the Government more accountable to the people. The sweeping bill moves to restore our democracy by diminishing the role of money in politics, rebuilding faith in our government, and making it easier for citizens to vote.  

“The midterm election last fall made one thing perfectly clear -- the American people are tired of the status quo and want change. Voters have known for a long time that the political process has been corrupted by insidious voter suppression tactics in states across the US and the influx of money into our elections following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizens United. As a staffer, I was proud to work on the historic campaign finance reform legislation, Shays-Meehan, and I am incredibly proud to join my colleagues today to vote in favor of this historic legislation that marks a big step forward in the fight to preserve and expand the right to vote and for the integrity of our elections,” said Rep. Trahan.

“I am also pleased that the legislation contained two of my amendments that were aimed at protecting the voting rights and access of the families of our brave servicemembers in uniform, as well as making sure that agents of foreign governments are not able to exercise influence over the drawing of new congressional districts. Like so many of my colleagues I campaigned on the issue of making government more open, transparent, and fair for the people we represent. This legislation represents a promise kept. I hope the Senate joins us in sending this transformational bill to the President’s desk,” Rep. Trahan continued.

You can learn more about Rep. Trahan’s amendments to H.R. 1 HERE:

Go in Depth:

More specifically, H.R. 1 address three categories of electoral reform:

Campaign finance

• H.R. 1 would establish a “Freedom from Influence Fund” to leverage small donors’ contributions to political campaigns. 
• Require Super PACs and dark money political organizations to publicly disclose their donors.
• Require Facebook and Twitter to disclose the funding source of political ads on their platforms.

Ethics

• H.R. 1 would require the president to disclose his or her tax returns.
• Stop members of Congress from using taxpayer money to settle sexual harassment cases.
• Give the Office of Government Ethics the authority to conduct more oversight and enforcement.

Voting rights

• H.R. 1 would create new national automatic voter registration that asks voters to opt out, rather than opt in, ensuring more people will be signed up to vote.
• Restore the Voting Rights Act, end partisan gerrymandering in federal elections and prohibit arbitrary voter roll purging.
• Increase election security, including requiring the Director of National Intelligence to do regular reporting on foreign threats.

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