John Yarmuth: “When the Supreme Court handed down a decision in the Citizens United case, which allowed corporations, including foreign…”

“When the Supreme Court handed down a decision in the Citizens United case, which allowed corporations, including foreign corporations, to spend money to advocate candidates in American elections, many people might have thought this was an abstract threat. But the events of the last month probably should convince them otherwise. Last year, BP Oil made $14 billion in profit. If they took one-tenth of that profit, $1.4 billion, they could spend $3 million in every congressional district for every election. It might be less expensive for them to buy Congress than it would be to pay the damages that they have done to this country. You know, in Kentucky, we have a candidate, Rand Paul, who is running for the Senate. He said President Obama was being un-American when he said he wanted to keep his foot on the throat of BP Oil. Do you think Rand Paul might be getting some campaign expenditures from BP this year? The damage that BP Oil has done to our country is not nearly as great as the damage which the Citizens United case could do to our democracy. We need to pass the DISCLOSE Act and put limits on corporations' ability to influence American elections.”