The DISCLOSE Act Passes - Shedding Light on Elections

This afternoon, the House passed the DISCLOSE Act by a vote of 219-206 to close some of the biggest election loopholes created by the Citizens United case--the Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to unrestricted special interest campaign donations in American elections, even from entities controlled by foreign governments. This bill helps ensure that the voices of the American people are not drowned out by a corporate takeover of our elections.

The DISCLOSE Act works to:

Prevent U.S. corporations controlled by foreign -- or even hostile -- governments from dumping in secret money to influence U.S. elections;

Stop manipulation of elections by fly-by-night "hit" groups funded by corporations such as BP, special interests, foreign companies, and multimillionaires;

Expose Wall Street, Big Oil, insurance companies, and other special interest groups behind last minute attack ads and other election ads--requiring their CEOs to stand by their ads;

Prevent large government contractors and TARP recipients from making political expenditures;

Give shareholders, organization members, and the public the right to know about corporate and interest group campaign expenditures;

Ensure that established, grassroots organizations, with membership of 500,000 or more, stand by their political ads and prohibits them from using corporate dollars for campaign purposes -- while respecting privacy of their contributors. (Provision applies only to organizations that take part in federal campaign-related activities.)

Watch video highlights of the floor debate:

Learn more about the bill»

Read the bill»

Read the transcript of the Speaker's floor remarks»