Washington — Following the House’s passage of the Protecting Our Democracy Act, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington President Noah Bookbinder released the following statement:

“The Protecting our Democracy Act is a strong step toward safeguarding our democracy by building up checks and balances and addressing structural weaknesses in our laws that leave our government vulnerable to those who would undermine our democratic system. This bill would make lasting changes in order to build a more accountable, inclusive and ethical government. We applaud the Biden administration for supporting this bill and reaffirming their commitment to the principle that no one, regardless of position or political party, is above the law.

“By addressing critical weaknesses in our nation’s ethics, transparency and accountability laws, the Protecting our Democracy Act will help to protect us against politicians who would weaponize their positions to increase their own power at the expense of our democracy. It will offer new layers of protection against the abuses of power we saw under the previous administration by rooting out corruption, strengthening oversight and investigations,  preventing presidents from profiting from public office or from using the government to increase their own power, and protecting our elections from foreign interference.”

CREW publicly supported the bill, as well as several key amendments to it, including new provisions that would require the President to establish and update a public database of White House visitor records; prohibit national political parties and fundraising events for congressional, presidential, and vice-presidential candidates from being held on or in any federal property; strengthen the Hatch Act; and modernize disclosure requirements to ensure online political advertisements meet the same transparency and disclosure requirements that apply to political ads on other media platforms.