Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE Act.

Fair, free elections are the foundation of our democracy. As Members of Congress, it is our duty to uphold the Constitution and ensure the voices of our constituents are heard. But in its Citizens United ruling, the Supreme Court overturned nearly a century of precedent and threatened the legitimacy of our elections by opening the flood gates to unlimited corporate spending on elections.

This ruling is sadly just a continuation of the failed policies that thrived under Republican leadership, when special interests dominated Washington. Fueled by big donations from special interests, for years Republicans allowed Big Oil to run amok, stood by and watched as Wall Street's greed nearly destroyed our financial system, and sat on their hands as health insurers raked in record profits at the expense of struggling American families.

Thankfully, things have changed under Democratic leadership. Under Democratic leadership, corporate influence in Washington is diminishing. Health Reform. Wall Street Reform. Energy Reform. Special interests have fought these efforts tooth and nail from the start, and they have failed.

The DISCLOSE Act is Democrats' latest effort to fight back against corporate special interests. This legislation begins to roll back the gaping loopholes in Citizens United that threaten the integrity of our elections and will drown out the voices of everyday American voters.

It prevents corporations controlled by foreign--or even hostile--governments from dumping in secret money to influence U.S. elections and drown out the voice of American voters.

It prohibits government contractors and TARP recipients from making political expenditures with taxpayer dollars.

And it throws a little sunshine on who is behind the ads in our elections. It does that by requiring disclosure by corporations, unions and advocacy groups that spend money on elections. It requires corporate CEOs to show their face and stand by their ads just like candidates must do.

The DISCLOSE Act helps ensure transparency and accountability in our federal elections. Voters deserve to know when Wall Street, Big Oil or credit card companies are the ones behind political advertisements. Shareholders deserve to know what their companies are spending their investment dollars on. And Americans deserve to know when special interests like health insurers and energy companies set up sham organizations meant to trick and deceive them into voting against their own interests.

Mr. Chair, transparency works. We need look no further than my home state of California, where just weeks ago voters soundly defeated a ballot measure after learning that the sham group ``Californians to Protect the Right to Vote'' that supported it was actually funded by energy giant Pacific Gas & Electric.

Mr. Chair, it is time to act. It is time to stop special interests and their billions of dollars from drowning out the voices of American voters. It is time to put the interests of American voters above those of corporations.

I urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes on the DISCLOSE Act.

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