On the recordJuly 27, 2010
I rise today to urge my colleagues to allow debate on the DISCLOSE Act, a commonsense measure to fix just some of the problems created by the Citizens United decision. For a century, Congress has done everything it could to make sure the American public has as much information as possible about the money being spent in our elections. The first Federal campaign finance disclosure law was passed in 1910, which scientists tell us was 100 years ago. It was strengthened in 1925. In the 1970s, it was replaced with an even stronger system as part of the Federal Election Campaign Act. Eight years ago, with McCain-Feingold, it was strengthened yet again. So the Congress has been in the disclosure business for 100 years. And, in fact, at every major step, the Supreme Court has actually affirmed Congress's power to pass these laws. In 1934, the Court unanimously upheld the disclosure laws that Congress passed a decade earlier. In 1975, they upheld the disclosure provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act. In 2003, they upheld the disclosure and disclaimer provisions of McCain-Feingold. Just this January in Citizens United--yes, in Citizens United--they voted 8 to 1 to uphold those same disclosure provisions again.
