U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) released the following statement Tuesday after Senate Republicans mounted a filibuster against the DISCLOSE Act, which would blunt the worst impacts from the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision earlier this year:
"The vote was disappointing but not unexpected. There was huge pressure on every Republican to vote the other way. I think a good number of them, in their hearts, knew we were right. The message we have is, this is the first battle, but not the end of the war. This issue is so important and the public is so strongly on our side that we dare not give up. We will keep fighting and fighting and fighting until this passes - until we get that one courageous Republican to say, 'I am going to put what's good for the nation first,' and not play politics.
"The elections this fall, if this doesn't change, will be so different than elections we've had in the past. We feel there is almost a moral imperative to pass this legislation. It is constitutional and it is within the ambit of what the Court not only allowed, but endorsed. We can't delay a day. I fear for the future of our democracy because if this decision is allowed to continue, the average citizen will feel more and more removed from government. We're going to keep at it, keep at it, and keep at it, and I believe we will win."
