Washington, DC--Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) voted to strengthen transparency in federal campaigns and on the role of special interests.  The DISCLOSE Act will prevent big corporations from drowning out the voices of the American people in elections.  The bill passed the full House by a vote of 219-206 and now goes to the Senate for passage.

“The American people have a right to know who is spending millions to influence elections,” said Rep. Engel.  “The recent Supreme Court decision Citizens United opened the door for a flood of corporate spending in our elections, with no disclosure or transparency.  This bill pulls back the curtains and lets the sun shine in on campaign spending.”

The DISCLOSE Act requires corporations, organizations, and special interest groups to stand by their political advertising, just as a candidate for office does.  It will stop corporations – such as Big Oil, and U.S. corporations controlled by foreign (sometimes even hostile) governments - from secretly manipulating elections by funneling money to front groups, which run last-minute attack ads and other anonymous election advertisements. 

CEOs will need to identify themselves in their advertisements, and corporations and organizations will be required to disclose their political expenditures.  The bill also prohibits entities receiving taxpayer money – such as large government contractors and corporations receiving TARP funds – from turning around and spending that money to influence elections.

“These common-sense transparency rules put the needs of average Americans, and not special interests, back at the center of our democracy,” said Rep. Engel.  “By voting against this bill, many Republicans are once again standing with big corporations and special interests instead of the American people.”

This landmark bill is the most far-reaching and significant campaign finance reform law since the McCain-Feingold Act, and does more to strengthen disclosure and transparency than any measure in recent history.  It has been subject to extensive bipartisan debate, including six public hearings, and contains both Democratic and Republican amendments. 

The DISCLOSE Act has strong support from the campaign finance reform community and been endorsed by Common Cause, League of Women Voters, Public Citizen, Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Democracy 21, among many other organizations.

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