Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2017
Floor Speech
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Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would prohibit funds being used by the FEC to enforce the prior approval requirement for trade associations. The prior approval requirement is the requirement that trade associations must acquire written approval for Member corporations to solicit PAC donations. They must further require stockholders and member companies to only contribute to one trade association. It is a requirement in the FEC laws that is unique amongst all PACs only to those that are trade association-related PACs.
So, therefore, the objective of the amendment is to say, out of all of the PACs out there, we do not need to treat trade associations specially. We should treat everybody the same, all PACs, including trade associations. It was a result of a law that was passed in 1978 which, I would submit to you, for the last 38 years, has been a solution in search of a problem.
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Mr. AMODEI. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.
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Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chairman, to quote the same Ronald Reagan, ``facts are stubborn things.'' Let's take a look at the facts here.
Trade associations may give 2-1 to Republicans, since we brought up the P word for politics; however, the ones that aren't regulated, which are labor PACs, give 9-1 to Democrats. We are not asking you to pick one or the other; we are asking you to treat them all the same.
Oh, and by the way, on this very floor earlier tonight, I believe there was some discussion about we are not hiding anything. If you want to see who gave to whom, you go to the FEC Web site. So it is not a question of are we hiding something.
I want to just give you a couple of more stubborn things, and then I will reserve.
The top 20 PACs in the 2014 cycle were all outside the prior approval rule. The top three are EMILY's List, SEIU, and the National Rifle Association. This is probably the first time those three outfits have been mentioned in the same sentence, but they are not required to do this.
By the way, Independent Electrical Contractors and the Rural Broadband Association should enjoy the same First Amendment rights to participate, which are now prohibited by this rule.
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Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Chairman, I will concede the point that maybe your Reagan quote was better, and I want to welcome you to the Reagan quote club. We are glad to have you on board.
Let me just say this. This seeks a level playing field. I think we have a 38-year history. I provided some facts that I think are relevant. Nobody is seeking advantage here. It is to treat everybody the same. I believe the word is the E word, which is equality.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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