[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 17 (Thursday, February 4, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S495-S496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWN:
  S. 3004. A bill to require notification to and prior approval by 
shareholders of certain political expenditures by publicly traded 
companies, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, last month, the Supreme Court ruled 
that corporations, U.S. or multinational, are equivalent to people and 
should be able to spend an unlimited amount of company money on 
political campaigns.
  I bet the framers of our constitution could not only tell the 
difference between businesses and people, but could predict the result 
if businesses are permitted to spend without limit to elect their 
favorite politicians.
  The top three Fortune 500 companies brought in an average profit of 
more than $27 billion last year. The average Ohio household brought 
home an income of about $48,000.

[[Page S496]]

  If you believe our government should be by the people and for the 
people--flesh and blood people--then corporations already have far more 
influence on our political process than they should.
  In 2009, corporations spent $3.3 billion lobbying Congress to 
influence insurance legislation and prescription drug legislation and 
financial reform legislation and the list goes on. Now they will be 
able to spend unlimited funds to elect their favorite candidates to 
Congress, getting in on the ground floor in the hopes that legislation 
they don't like will never see the light of day.
  Grassroots organizations like, conservative organization and Families 
USA, whose members are real people with real concerns, will be left in 
the dust by the drug industry and other deep pocketed special 
interests.
  The bottom-line is that our democratic form of government will sit on 
a cushion of corporate cash. If Corporate America wants to decide who 
runs our country, they will have a billion ways to do it.
  Congress has--and must exercise--its constitutionally granted 
authority to minimize the negative impact of this decision. Today, I 
introduced The Citizens Right to Know Act, legislation that is intended 
to reduce the incentive for corporations to buy out the political 
process. It would also put a stop to foreign influence on U.S. 
elections.
  To protect shareholder investments, this legislation would require 
all the shareholders of a corporation to vote for election spending 
before it happens, with approval by a majority of shareholders. Each 
shareholder would get one vote per share of common stock held. If 
shareholders know that millions or billions in potential dividends are 
about to be spent on campaign ads, they may help instill some reason 
into the, elected, leadership of the corporations they own.
  It would also require corporate CEOs to do what political candidates 
do when they pay for political advertising: political candidates face 
the camera and tell the public that they sponsored the commercial. 
Corporate CEOs would have to do the same for their political 
advertisements. Issue organizations or trade groups would have to 
disclose their three top corporate contributors, and to disclose 
funding information for certain radio and print ads on their website. 
Shedding sunlight on the political shenanigans of billion dollar 
corporations may do a world of good in dampening the effects of their 
spending.
  Finally, the bill would close a loophole that permits foreign 
investors, including foreign governments, to influence U.S. elections 
by channeling money through a U.S. affiliate. Any company that has a 51 
percent or greater ownership stake from a foreign entity, be it a 
foreign individual, business association, or government, would be 
prohibited from spending money to influence. I think we can all agree 
that foreign governments should not have the same right to contribute 
to campaigns as the American people, and it would be outrageous if they 
could spend money to influence the outcome of the Presidential or any 
other race.
  Americans--true, red blooded Americans--should decide who represents 
them in our democratic system. Billion dollar corporations make 
important contributions to our nation, but tilting our democratic 
system their way is not one of them.
                                 ______