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Rep. Crow Joins Democrats to Introduce H.R. 1, Once-in-a-Generation Anti-Corruption and Reform Package

January 4, 2019

Proposals aimed at fixing our broken campaign finance system, strengthening ethics laws, and empowering voters

Rep. Jason Crow today joined the new House Democratic majority in introducing H.R. 1, the For the People Act, a sweeping package of reforms that will change balance of power in Washington and put the American people back in charge of our democracy. The three-pronged reform package will address voting rights, campaign finance reforms and ethics reform.

H.R. 1 offers some of the most transformational and comprehensive democracy reforms in more than four decades and follows through on a major Democratic midterm election promise to clean up the chaos and corruption Washington.

"We need to bring servant leadership back to Washington. That begins with passing H.R. 1 and restoring faith in our democracy. By introducing the "For the People" Act in the first 48 hours, we send a message that we're ending politics as usual," said Rep. Crow. "Ensuring quality affordable health care, ending the scourge of gun violence, and combating climate change all depend on our ability to end the influence of special interests. We need to end the culture of corruption in Washington and this reform package strikes at the heart of the rot."

"Representative Crow's leadership has played a pivotal role in the introduction of this transformational anti-corruption and reform bill," said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United Action Fund. "Rep. Crow ran a campaign that was centered on unrigging the system so that government puts the needs of the people ahead of the special interests. ECU applauds Rep. Crow for leading in this fight and looks forward to working with him to pass historic reforms."

H.R. 1 makes critical reforms across three key areas:

  1. Voting Rights
  • Improve Access – H.R. 1 creates automatic voter registration across the country, ensures that individuals who have completed felony sentences have their full rights restored, expands voting by mail and early voting and modernizes the U.S. voting system.
  • Promote Integrity – H.R. 1 fights back against the assault on voting rights by prohibiting voter roll purges, ensuring that discriminatory voter ID laws do not prevent Americans citizens from exercising their rights, and ends partisan gerrymandering.
  • Ensure Security – H.R. 1 enhances federal support for voting system security, particularly paper ballots, and increases oversight over election vendors.
  1. Campaign Finance
  • Guarantee Disclosure – H.R. 1 shines a light on dark money in politics by requiring any organization involved in political activity to disclose its large donors, which will break the nesting-doll system that allows big-money contributors and special interests to hide their spending in networks of so-called "social welfare" organizations.
  • Strengthen Oversight – H.R. 1 tightens rules on super PACs and restructures the Federal Election Commission to break the gridlock and enhance its enforcement mechanisms.
  1. Ethics and Accountability
  • Fortify Ethics Law – H.R. 1 increases accountability by expanding conflict of interest law and divestment requirements, preventing Members of Congress from serving on corporate boards, and requiring presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns.
  • Impose Greater Ethics Enforcement – H.R. 1 gives teeth to federal ethics oversight by overhauling the Office of Government Ethics and closing registration loopholes for lobbyists and foreign agents.