The Independent View: Will House Take Up the Discovery Act?

The DISCLOSE Act was introduced by Rep. Van Hollen (D-MD) and Sen. Whitehouse (D-RI). It would require corporations, unions, other outside groups and SuperPACs to disclose contributions of $10,000 or more within 24 hours to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), as well as disclose their support in ads. It would also require them to disclose their spending to their shareholders and require lobbyists to disclose campaign-related expenditures in conjunction with their lobbying activities.

Reps. Steve Israel (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and John Sarbanes (D-MD), and Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Edward Markey (D-MA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Udall (D-NM), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Mark Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to newly-elected Speaker Ryan calling on him to immediately bring up for consideration the DISCLOSE Act, which would improve transparency with the disclosure of campaign-related spending by corporations and outside groups.

Dear Speaker Ryan:

Congratulations on being elected Speaker of the House. We know the challenges ahead are many and we hope that, above all, your Speakership will be defined by progress for everyday Americans—not the partisanship and gridlock that has come to define this GOP-led Congress so far.

Since taking the gavel for the first time, you’ve made numerous statements about ushering in a new era of transparency and changing the process in the House to make it more “deliberative and participatory.” You’ve called this a “generational defining moment.”

Mr. Speaker, unless we open up the process to the American people, these goals will remain rhetoric and nothing more. That’s why we are calling on you to immediately bring up for consideration the DISCLOSE Act, introduced by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), which would simply allow for additional light to be shed on money in our political system.

Hardworking Americans deserve to know who is behind the seemingly endless dollars that are spent trying to influence their vote. Since the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision, corporations and wealthy individuals have been given carte blanche to use dark money to elect candidates of their choice. This is not the will of the American people, nor is it healthy for our Democracy or our institution.

Too many of our constituents feel that Washington is broken and our government is elected by the wealthy few instead of the many.

During a press conference last week, you said that you “feel that we have an obligation to the hardworking citizens of this country to show them how we would do things differently, to tackle our country’s problems before they tackle us, and to get things fixed, to advance our principles, to show how we can make things better for people who are struggling in America.”

Mr. Speaker, if you are truly serious about restoring faith to this institution, then we ask that you allow Congress to vote on the DISCLOSE Act, which will bring some much-needed transparency to our campaign finance system.