Van Hollen Statement on GOP Refusal to Consider DISCLOSE Act

Press Release

Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen released the following statement after the Republican majority rejected an effort to bring the DISCLOSE Act to the floor for a vote:

"Americans have a right to know who is behind the unprecedented amount of money being spent by secret groups to influence their votes. But once again, House Republicans voted today to block consideration of the DISCLOSE Act, once again putting the interests of wealthy donors ahead of the American people. The majority of House Democrats support increasing disclosure in the wake of the disastrous Citizens United ruling, and I urge every Republican who wants to put the public interest before big money special interests to support the DISCLOSE Act as well."

The DISCLOSE Act passed the House in 2010, but was defeated by one vote in the Senate. It would require corporations and other special interests to disclose contributions of $10,000 or more within 24 hours to the Federal Election Commission, 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.

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