[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 98 (Monday, June 28, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEMOCRACY IS STRENGTHENED BY CASTING LIGHT ON SPENDING IN ELECTIONS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. TODD TIAHRT

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 24, 2010

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5175) to 
     amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit 
     foreign influence in Federal elections, to prohibit 
     government contractors from making expenditures with respect 
     to such elections, and to establish additional disclosure 
     requirements with respect to spending in such elections, and 
     for other purposes:

  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.

  The DISCLOSE Act takes us down a familiar road of the majority acting 
to remove the First Amendment rights of the minority, including the 
rights of those who are fighting to defend the sanctity of life. For 
over a year, the Democrat majority in Congress and the White House have 
held the voice of the American people in contempt, whether at town 
halls or on the National Mall. Instead of listening, they would rather 
find ways to silence us.
  The DISCLOSE Act is designed to impact this year's election by 
immediately placing its provisions into effect without the normal 
regulatory vetting process that occurs when a bill is signed into law. 
It is also a discriminatory bill, with requirements that do not apply 
equally to all citizens, but are based on the type of activity or 
speech they are involved in. Nowhere in the Constitution does the 
Federal Government have the right to decide who has the right to speak 
up. It is specifically designed to exempt most Unions from the 
reporting requirements. It requires CEOs of corporations to appear in 
any ads that their companies have funded, in whole or in part, and 
state the name of the company, twice. These limits on First Amendment 
rights are not in keeping with the intentions of the Founding Fathers.
  This bill is an abhorrent attack on our rights and it will not stand 
up to the scrutiny of the courts. This hallowed body should not even be 
considering it. I urge my colleagues to send this bill back to where it 
deserves to go, the dust bin.

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