[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 21, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4909-S4910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DISCLOSE ACT

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the DISCLOSE 
Act and the need to take action to get secret money out of our 
elections.
  I want to thank Senator Whitehouse for his leadership on this 
legislation--and testimony at the Rules Committee hearing I held on it 
this summer--as well as Leader Schumer for holding this vote. Senator 
Whitehouse has championed this bill since 2012, and I have been proud 
to support it alongside him in every Congress.
  This vote could not come at a more important time, as we are seeing 
an unprecedented flood of money into our elections. Over $14 billion 
was spent during the 2020 elections, the most expensive in our 
country's history.
  As we approach the general election in November, with 48 days left, 
this is already the most expensive midterm election ever. One estimate 
expects that nearly $10 billion will be spent just on political 
advertising this election cycle, more than double the $4 billion in the 
2018 midterm elections.
  As spending on elections increases, the sources of the spending are 
less accountable than ever before. One investigation found that more 
than $1 billion was spent on the 2020 elections by groups that do not 
disclose their donors at all.
  Americans know there is way too much money in our elections, and--for 
our democracy to work--we need to know where this money is coming from. 
But since the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United opened up the 
flood of outside money, no significant improvements have been made to 
our disclosure laws or regulations.
  Unlimited, anonymous spending in our elections doesn't encourage free 
speech; it drowns out the voices of the American people who are seeking 
to participate. And this unrelenting secret spending will continue 
unless we take action to address it, which is why we need to pass the 
DISCLOSE Act.
  The DISCLOSE Act would address this tidal wave of secret money by 
requiring outside groups that spend in our elections to disclose their 
large donors--those that contribute more than $10,000--to the public.
  Importantly, the bill also makes it harder for wealthy special 
interests to hide their contributions or cloak the identity of donors; 
and it cracks down on the use of shell companies to conceal donations 
from foreign nationals.
  I held a hearing on the bill in the Rules Committee this summer, 
where we heard about the effects that secret money is having on our 
democracy--and why we need to pass this legislation.
  Senator Whitehouse testified at that hearing, and he spoke powerfully 
about the impact that secret money is having on our government--
affecting all aspects of our lives, from the makeup of our courts to 
people's healthcare decisions to addressing climate change.
  We also heard from Montana's Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff 
Mangan, who told us how his State's version of the DISCLOSE Act passed 
in 2015 with bipartisan support. I couldn't agree more that 
transparency in our democracy should not be a partisan issue, and 
regardless of political party, we should know who is spending in our 
elections.
  The American people know what is at stake, so it is no surprise that 
campaign finance disclosure laws have overwhelming support. One recent 
poll found that in swing States, 91 percent of likely voters--
Republicans and Democrats--support full transparency of campaign 
contributions and spending in our elections. Another poll from 2019 
found that, across America, 83 percent of likely voters support public 
disclosure of contributions to groups involved in elections.
  There is also a long history of bipartisan support for reducing the 
influence of money in our democracy. In fact, the very first limits on 
corporate campaign contributions in 1907, the landmark Federal Election 
Campaign Act in 1972, and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in 2002--
which my friends and former colleagues Senators John McCain and Russ 
Feingold joined together to champion--were all passed on a bipartisan 
basis and signed into law by Republican Presidents.
  Former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia--never one to hide his 
opinions--was also a staunch supporter of campaign finance disclosure. 
In a 2010 case, Doe v. Reed, he wrote: ``For my part, I do not look 
forward to a society which, thanks to the Supreme Court, campaigns 
anonymously . . . hidden from public scrutiny and protected from the 
accountability of criticism. This does not resemble the Home of the 
Brave.''

[[Page S4910]]

  Ensuring the transparency of our elections has been--and should 
continue to be--a bipartisan value. These issues are at the very heart 
of our democracy, and this commonsense bill would protect the right of 
voters to make informed choices and know who has been trying to 
influence our elections.
  While we are here today to vote on legislation to counter the flood 
of secret money in our elections, there is so much more we must do to 
safeguard our democracy, and I continue to support this and the other 
reforms in the Freedom to Vote Act.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting these measures that are 
so fundamental to our system of government and voting to advance this 
legislation.

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