Harkin Joins Group of Senators in Introducing Legislation to Shine Light on Anonymous Campaign Spending

Press Release

Today, as the public continues to see the harmful effects of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision first hand in the Republican primaries, a group of 36 U.S. Senators announced new legislation to address the worst of the problems caused by the decision. The DISCLOSE Act of 2012, introduced by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and cosponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), will help put an end to secretive campaign spending by strengthening disclosure laws.

"Despite all of the efforts that have been made to limit the influence of money in politics, Citizens United set our country back," said Harkin. "We must remedy this problem by restoring vital campaign finance reform laws that restrict the influence of special interests and limit the ability of corporations to use their vast resources to distort our campaign process. The health of our nation and the integrity of our democracy rely on this action. That is why I have strongly supported a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United and believe it is imperative for Congress to pass the DISCLOSE Act, so at the very least voters know who is trying to influence our democracy."

The Act requires any covered organization that spends $10,000 or more during an election cycle to file a report with the Federal Election Commission within 24 hours, detailing the amount and nature of each expenditure over $1,000 and the names of all of its donors who gave $10,000 or more. Transfer provisions in the bill prevent donors from using shell organizations to hide their activities.

To make sure that organizations and individuals take responsibility for their negative or misleading political advertising, the legislation also includes "stand-by-your-ad" disclaimer requirements that require any organization that puts a political ad on TV or radio to list its top funders in the ads. The head of the organization also must appear in the ad and state that he or she approves the message, just as candidates must do now.

The other cosponsors of the legislation are Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Mark Begich (D-AK), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Kerry (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Carl Levin (D-MI), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chuck Shumer (D-NY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Mark Udall (D-CO), Jim Webb (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

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