[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7343-S7344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE DISCLOSE ACT

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to take a few minutes 
to talk about this issue of campaign ads being run all across the land 
and millions of dollars being spent by groups with misleading names, 
leaving our voters without any knowledge of who is behind the ads they 
are hearing.
  To me, the lack of accountability and civility and literal accuracy 
in political campaigns is absolutely unacceptable, and I am of the view 
that we ought to be asking here in the Senate whether this is really 
the best we can do to ensure accountability and openness in American 
politics. I think the answer to that is, it is a no-brainer. There 
ought to be basic disclosure of who is behind all of those ads that are 
flooding the airwaves. That is what is behind the DISCLOSE legislation, 
the bill that has been brought before the Senate to ensure that it is 
possible for Americans, at a time when there is intense interest in 
American politics, to know who is sponsoring all of these commercials 
that are rushing at the American people pell-mell over the airwaves.
  What is striking is how stark the inequities in all of this are. What 
I am particularly troubled about is that as a result of the Supreme 
Court decision, it is possible today for a foreign interest with no 
vote here in the United States to have a more substantial voice in our 
elections this fall than any hard-working American taxpayer. When you 
break that down, you really get a sense of just how outlandish this 
Supreme Court decision is. Let me repeat that. Foreign interests, 
through a subsidiary, with no vote here in the United States, will have 
a louder voice in the State of Alaska, in the State of Oregon, than any 
of the hard-working taxpayers whom we are honored to represent here in 
the Senate. I think that indicates that the campaign finance system is 
way out of whack.
  This Supreme Court decision, in my view, has literally blown the 
hinges off the doors of our democracy. What is needed is legislation 
such as the DISCLOSE Act to ensure accountability, civility, and 
accuracy in political campaigns.
  My view is that the lack of that kind of accountability creates not 
only confusion but even resentment among voters. The reason I know that 
is that the situation the country finds itself in now is very similar 
to what I saw when I first ran for the Senate in 1996 against the man 
who eventually became my colleague and good friend in the Senate, 
Gordon Smith. That was the only race in the United States at that time, 
the winter of 1996. Attack ads were being run by all sides, left and 
right. Senator Smith and I literally had no idea who was behind a lot 
of the attack ads. We made the judgment that while policy differences 
and personal criticisms are certainly a fair and legitimate part of a 
political campaign, what is not acceptable is the situation our country 
finds itself in, once again; that is, the huge numbers of ads being run 
where nobody could figure out who was behind some of the attacks, 
attacks that were pretty vicious and certainly high decibel.
  So I came to the Senate in the winter of 1996, and I vowed to try to 
make some changes. I vowed to work with colleagues of both parties to 
bring transparency and accountability to campaign advertising. I had 
the good fortune to find a terrific partner in this effort with our 
colleague from Maine, Senator Susan Collins. As part of the McCain-
Feingold bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, Senator Collins and I 
were able to win passage of an amendment which has come to be known as 
the stand by your ad disclosure requirement. Not only have we all seen 
these ads, everyone who has run to serve in this distinguished Chamber 
has recorded them. It is real simple. I am Mark Begich. I approved this 
message. I am Ron Wyden, and I approved

[[Page S7344]]

this message. It is not a hard thing to do. It comes about as a result 
of the fact that a colleague on the other side of the aisle, Senator 
Collins, joined me in this effort that I believed passionately in after 
that Senate special election in the winter of 1996.
  That simple disclosure requirement gives voters very important 
information about who is behind a political ad. I am of the view that 
disclosure should not be required just for candidates but for anyone--
interest groups, corporations--who seeks to communicate a political 
message. Unfortunately, after the Citizens United ruling, there are a 
variety of these interests that are now free to spend unlimited amounts 
of money on political ads without voters knowing who is paying for the 
ads. That is dangerous for democracy. It is wrong, and it needs to be 
stopped.
  The stand by your ad provision of the DISCLOSE Act would require the 
top official, the CEO or a top official from a company, a union or any 
organization paying for a political advertisement to take 
responsibility for the ad. The DISCLOSE Act can't prevent the formation 
of misleading front organizations, but another provision would require 
disclosure of the top five funders to allow voters to know who is 
behind the ad.
  I am of the view that companies, unions, other organizations ought to 
be held to the same standards of transparency and accountability in 
their political advertising as political candidates and political 
action committees. It is, in a one-sentence description, all about 
sunshine. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. The disclosure 
requirements in this legislation are going to give voters more 
information and help them understand who is paying for these political 
ads.
  I continue, as the Presiding Officer knows, to do everything I can to 
work in the Senate in a bipartisan fashion. I am pleased to see my 
distinguished colleague in the chair. He has joined me with Senator 
Gregg and a number of colleagues on both sides of the aisle in what is 
the first bipartisan tax reform legislation in a quarter century. It 
picks up on another bipartisan model--legislation advanced by former 
President Reagan, Bill Bradley, Dan Rostenkowski, and others. A big day 
is coming up in tax reform. That is tomorrow. Chairman Baucus is going 
to lead us into the first debate in a long time about tax reform. I 
very much look forward to working with Chairman Baucus and his 
leadership on this issue.
  I see my colleague from the Finance Committee, Senator Grassley. If 
we are going to duplicate that important tax reform work of 1986, it is 
going to be Chairman Baucus, Senator Grassley, Senator Hatch, the 
leaders of our committee taking us forward in a bipartisan way so the 
distinguished Senator from Alaska and I and other more junior members 
can work with our colleagues and make some history and fix the American 
tax system, radically simplify it. But to do that we will have to work 
in a bipartisan way.
  I come to the floor to say, once again, I am hopeful that the 
DISCLOSE legislation, which provides an opportunity for transparency 
and accountability in campaign finance, can also become a bipartisan 
cause. There is absolutely nothing partisan about the question of 
making sure a political advertisement that is offered is one where the 
American people know who is behind it. That is not a partisan issue. As 
my friend from Alaska knows, it certainly isn't a partisan issue to 
take this unbelievable mess of a Tax Code that runs page after page 
after page, thousands of words, and simplify it to a one-page form, a 
one-page 1040 form. That is not partisan work, nor should disclosing 
campaign finance advertisements be partisan either.
  I ask on this question of election reform, look at the present 
system, where there is no accountability, where people don't know who 
is behind these advertisements, and ask: Is this the best we can do? I 
think the answer is obviously no. I think the answer is, instead, to 
say that companies and unions and other organizations ought to be held 
to the same standard of honesty and integrity as political candidates 
are required to do under the legislation Senator Collins and I authored 
as part of McCain-Feingold.
  The fact is, this Senate can do better in election reform. I urge 
colleagues to work together to bring transparency and accountability to 
American elections and pass the DISCLOSE Act.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.

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