Providing for Consideration of H.R. 5175, Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act

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Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, let's keep America the best democracy, not the best democracy that money can buy.

The pollution of our political process with tens of millions of dollars in spending by the world's largest multinational corporations strikes at the very heart of our American democracy. Whatever these giant interests cannot already get with their army of lobbyists here in Washington and with the millions of dollars that their executives already contribute to campaigns, they now want to buy directly with money from their corporate treasuries--and they are no fools.

The limitless dollars that these folks lavish on elections are simply wise investments for many of them. They are well designed to spend a few million now in order to claim a few billion dollars in unjustified spending from the public treasury later. Often, the same folks who are reaching into the public purse are the folks who, through special tax expenditures and tax loopholes, don't contribute but pennies on the dollar compared to what a small business might be having to pay in its corporate tax rate or what a working or middle-class family might be having to pay, struggling to make ends meet.

Without the DISCLOSE Act, a tobacco company can come here masquerading as a phony ``health care'' coalition. A Wall Street bank can come and ask for another bailout, claiming that it is part of a ``consumer alliance.'' A polluter can defeat those who want to hold it accountable by asserting that it is part of ``Citizens for Clean Air and Clean Beaches.'' Insurance monopolies determined to deny American families access to care at prices they can afford are already out there with groups like Americans for Better Health Care, which is really designed to stymie families efforts to access health care.

DISCLOSE Act opponents have a great deal not to disclose. They want to be assassins, silent assassins of character, where they buy one hate ad after another while denying the public an opportunity to know that the views being expressed in that 30 seconds are, in fact, limited to those of a narrow corporate self-interest that is determined never to be held accountable for its misconduct.

The public, without the power of these corporate deep pockets, would also be denied access to the knowledge of who is really wielding the power. Who can look at Washington these days and say that the problem up here is too little influence of corporate cash?

A vote for the DISCLOSE Act is a vote to stop the corruption of our political system and to stop the slide into plutocracy. It is a vote for a fully-informed and fully-empowered American people to take charge of our democracy and to ensure the change that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of our families.

I urge its adoption.

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