Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act - Extension of Remarks
Floor Speech
Issues: Judicial Branch Campaign Finance
Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Chair, I stand in vehement opposition to H.R. 5175, the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act. The DISCLOSE Act is a hasty, ill-conceived, un-Constitutional response to the near unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United vs The Federal Election Committee. In that ruling, Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority, stated that:
When Government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought. This is unlawful. The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves.
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