Citizens United Response to Castle-Van Hollen Legislation

The following is a statement from Citizens United President David N. Bossie:

“Mike Castle signing on to a bill does not bipartisanship make. A Republican running for a Senate seat held by a Democrat since the 1970s has plenty of political motivation to hold hands with the Democrat leadership whenever he gets a chance.

“But more importantly, ‘bipartisan’ and ‘constitutional’ are two very different things. McCain-Feingold was bipartisan and, as the Supreme Court made very clear in January, much of that law was unconstitutional. The right to free speech is a sacred right, and legislation for the explicit purpose of restricting the ability of Americans to speak out for or against their own elected representatives is too often nothing more than an unconstitutional incumbent protection act cloaked in the guise of ‘reform.’

“As Members of Congress look at this legislation they would do well to remember the oath they swore to ‘support and defend the Constitution’ and to ‘bear true faith and allegiance to the same.’ Members who take their oath seriously have a duty to protect the First Amendment, regardless of their political ambitions.”