Moran Votes for Transparency in Campaign Ads

Photo by John Arundel.

Washington, DC. – Congressman Jim Moran hailed the House’s passage of legislation that will increase disclosure and strengthen transparency in federal campaigns.
 
Passed by of vote of 219 to 206, the bipartisan, bicameral DISCLOSE Act [HR 5175] was crafted as a response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.
 
“The Citizens United decision weakens our campaign finance laws, blindfolds voters and drowns out the voices of the people by opening the door to big corporate dollars,” said Moran.
 
“In its ruling, the Supreme Court gave the nod to special interests that want to obscure their role in funding campaign advertisements and foreign corporations that want to use their vast reserves to overwhelm the American people.”
 
The DISCLOSE Act requires corporations, organizations, and special interest groups to stand by their political advertising just like a candidate for office does.
 
The bill is intended to inhibit American corporations controlled by foreign or hostile governments from secretly funneling money to groups that involve themselves in elections.
 
CEOs will need to identify themselves in their advertisements, and corporations and organizations will be required to disclose their political expenditures.
 
The bill also prohibits entities that receive taxpayer money from spending that money to influence elections.
 
This landmark bill is the most far-reaching and significant campaign finance reform law since the McCain-Feingold Act, and does more to strengthen disclosure and transparency than any recent measure.
 
It has been subject to extensive bipartisan debate, including six public hearings, and contains both Democratic and Republican amendments.
 
The DISCLOSE Act has strong support from the campaign finance reform community.
 
“With the DISCLOSE Act, we are working to empower citizens through information and transparency. The bill takes critical strides toward undoing the Supreme Court’s misguided ruling and I urge the Senate to pass it swiftly,” said Moran.
 
A similar bill, S.3295, is being spearheaded by Senator Chuck Schumer and is awaiting consideration in the Senate Rules Committee.