House Passes Bill to Keep Big Corporations Out of U.S. Elections

Press Release

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation that will rein in the influence of special interest groups and big corporations over the election process. The bipartisan DISCLOSE Act reverses a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that gives big corporations the right to contribute directly to candidates and buy political advertising. It also requires groups who are formed to campaign against candidates and issues to fully disclose who their donors are.

"The American people have the right to know who is flooding the airwaves with political attack ads during a campaign," said Congressman Jim Oberstar.

The DISCLOSE Act requires corporations, organizations, and special interest groups to clearly label the ads they purchase, just like a candidate for office does. It will stop Wall Street, Big Oil, and U.S. corporations controlled by foreign -- or even hostile -- governments from secretly manipulating elections by funneling money to fly-by-night front groups that run last minute attack ads and other anonymous election advertisements.

"Without this protection a company like BP could campaign against members of Congress for ensuring they clean up the spill in the Gulf," said Oberstar.

CEOs will need to identify themselves in their advertisements, and corporations and organizations will be required to disclose their political expenditures. The bill also prohibits entities that receive taxpayer money -- such as large government contractors and corporations receiving TARP funds -- from turning around and spending that money to influence elections.

"This is common sense election reform and I'm sorry to see that only two Republicans joined with us to pass this bill," said Oberstar. "Clean, transparent elections benefit all Americans - this shouldn't be a partisan issue."

The DISCLOSE Act has strong support from the campaign finance reform community and has been endorsed by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen, Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Democracy 21, among many other organizations.

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