[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 96 (Thursday, June 24, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H4784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       PROTECT FREEDOM OF POLITICAL SPEECH FROM THE DISCLOSE ACT

  (Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California asked and was given permission 
to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, in a few minutes, 
we're going to start talking about a rule and then go into the 
substance of a bill called the DISCLOSE Act. The DISCLOSE Act 
supposedly talks merely about disclosure of political speech, but what 
it really does is affect the First Amendment to the Constitution which 
says, Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. It 
does not say, Congress will pass laws which allow some people to speak 
but not others, and yet that's what the bill does that's being brought 
to us.
  If you happen to be a big organization, a large special interest with 
a lot of money and have been around a long time, you are exempt from 
the disclosure requirements. But if you happen to be somebody like, oh, 
the tea party or a smaller group or you don't have all the money or you 
haven't been around for 10 years, you have the imposition of the burden 
of disclosure which, in some cases, will make it impossible for you to 
exercise free speech.
  You know, the First Amendment talks about speech. My friends on the 
other side of the aisle love to talk about how it protects, oh, nude 
dancing or something like that. How about talking about political 
speech.

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