Marcy Kaptur: “Mr. Chairman, historically, Congress has been very clear about disallowing foreign contributions to U.S. campaigns at…”

“Mr. Chairman, historically, Congress has been very clear about disallowing foreign contributions to U.S. campaigns at every level, and if we look, however, at the foreign lobbying activities that have grown, especially in this past quarter century, and the organization of multinational corporations that have in many ways outgrown existing law, it is clear that an amendment like this is needed and, as originally proposed, my amendment sought to both clarify the definition as well as the disclosure by foreign-controlled political action contributions to U.S. election campaigns. But it is certainly true to say that U.S. law has been abundantly clear about who can contribute to U.S. campaigns: citizens of this country as individuals and citizens through political action committees expressly organized for that purpose. But corporations cannot contribute directly, nor can trade unions outside of a formally recognized political action committee. But because of a loophole dating back to 1934, while foreign nationals and foreign citizens cannot directly or indirectly contribute to U.S.…”