Richard Gray, center, is the local organizer of Clallam County Move On. He and other members want Rep. Norm Dicks to sign their pledge to overturn the Citizens United suit, which allows businesses unlimited funding for political advertisements.
Members of Clallam County Move On, a political advocacy group, rallied on Wednesday, Sept. 8, at the corners of Sequim Avenue and Washington Street for Rep. Norm Dicks to sign their pledge stopping corporate personhood.
It supports:
• Overturning the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision for Citizens United, which allows corporations to pay for political advertisements with no spending limit
• Signing the Fair Elections Now Act
• Reform for lobbyists so that there is a five-year gap between being a regulator and a lobbyist
Richard Gray, organizer for the group, said they reached out to Dicks earlier in the summer about the petition but did not receive a response. They rallied Aug. 10 in front of Dicks’ Port Angeles office.
"Most of us are Democrats and Green Party members and will vote for him, but we want him to be a progressive Democrat," Gray said. "We want strong Democrats to keep this country progressive."
George Behan, a spokesman for Dicks, said the congressman didn’t sign the pledge because amending a Supreme Court decision is a high bar to go over. Dicks is supporting the Disclose Act that dramatically increases transparency of corporate spending, Behan said.
"It passed in June in the House and is pending in the Senate," Behan said.
"We hope we can pass it in the Senate in the next few weeks. It’s a more effective and immediate way to respond."
Gray said they received a letter from Dicks within 10 minutes that was a generic response saying he’d take note of their opinions. "When you make a strong appeal to a congressman, you expect more than a boilerplate letter," Gray said.
Dicks’ response led Gray and Clallam County Move On members to no longer encourage Dicks on the matter.
For more information on Move On, visit www.moveon.org.
To contact Dicks’ Port Angeles office, call 452-3370 from 9 a.m.-noon Tuesdays or 1-4 p.m. Thursdays.
