Friend --
I'm excited to share with you a new piece of legislation I've been working on: the Protecting Our Democracy Act. I helped introduce this legislation at the end of last month, and I'm confident that it will help restore, strengthen, and protect our country's democracy if we can get it signed into law.
We know now more than ever before that we can't take our democracy for granted. These past few years we've experienced unprecedented attacks that have pushed our democracy to the brink.
During the Trump years, the former president and his enablers abused their power, ignored laws, and undermined institutions for personal and political gain. Donald Trump fired and intimidated staff who sought to tell the truth. He attempted to extort a foreign country into digging up dirt against a political opponent. He and members of his administration ignored lawful subpoenas to testify before Congress. He turned the White House lawn into a stage for his political theater. He sought to interfere in the work of the Justice Department. He took money that was appropriated by Congress to fund military schools and other vital projects and diverted it to try to build a border wall that was never approved by Congress. And as his damaging term came to an end, he sought to undermine the results of the presidential election.
That's why passing the Protecting Our Democracy Act couldn't be more critical. This sweeping package of reforms will help restore and strengthen our system of checks and balances, improve accountability and transparency, protect our elections from interference, both domestic and foreign, and ensure no politician (not even the president) is above the law.
Friend, it's time to restore our democracy's guardrails. Will you add your name next to mine? Become a citizen co-sponsor of the Protecting Our Democracy Act today.
The Protecting our Democracy Act takes some vital steps:
First: We must prevent future presidents from acting with impunity and without consequence. That means preventing abuses of presidential pardons. It means suspending the statute of limitations on federal crimes committed by a president or vice president to make clear that no one is above the law. It means enforcing the Emoluments Clauses to prevent federal officials from profiting off of their service to the people and strengthening the Hatch Act to provide stronger enforcement and penalties for violations. It means protecting whistleblowers, preventing political interference in the work of the Justice Department, and preserving the independence of inspectors general.
Second: Congress must reaffirm its authority as a coequal branch of government. It must reassert Congress's power of the purse by strengthening the Impoundment Control Act and adding penalties for failure to comply. It must create tools to enforce congressional subpoenas and limit presidential declarations of emergencies. And importantly, it must reestablish Congress as a check on presidential overreach and corruption.
Finally: Congress must take meaningful steps to prevent foreign interference in our elections and fix our broken campaign finance system. Until corruption is brought into the light and ultimately rooted out, we can expect nefarious actors to continue working to interfere and undermine our electoral process. Campaigns should be required to report any attempts by foreign actors to influence American elections -- and there must be significant penalties for accepting or encouraging foreign influence.
A deteriorating democracy can't deliver results and achieve progress. That's why I'm committed to doing everything I can to protect and strengthen our democracy so it works better for the people and to restore the American people's faith in our government.
We've got too much to do, from expanding health care access to protecting our environment, to wait any longer to take action. Democracy is not a spectator sport, we all must be in this fight to root out corruption, give power back to the people, and strengthen our democratic systems.
Add your name today to become a citizen co-sponsor of this critical legislation. Help us show broad public support for protecting our democracy.
It's an honor to represent you,
Derek
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Paid for by People for Derek Kilmer
PO Box 1381
Tacoma WA 98402 United States
Team, thank you so much for being a supporter of Derek Kilmer and Democrats up and down the ballot.
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