Remarks by Representative Van Hollen at the Congressional Forum on Citizens United v. FEC

Today Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen participated in a Congressional Forum on Citizens United v. FEC hosted by the House Administration Committee Democrats. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

"I would like to thank the Ranking Member of the Election Subcommittee, Representative Gonzalez, as well as the Ranking Member of the House Administration Committee, Representative Robert Brady, for holding this forum today and for inviting me to participate. I commend them, as well as Democratic Leader Pelosi, for their leadership in addressing the serious damage that the Citizens United decision has done to the integrity of our electoral process.

"I want to extend my appreciation to the witnesses for joining us today on this important issue, which I believe is critical to preserving the essence of our democracy -- that our elected officials should be chosen by the American people, not by secret outside groups bankrolling campaigns.

"When the Supreme Court handed down this decision, many of us were concerned that corporations would face inordinate pressure to open up their corporate coffers for the purpose of making political expenditures. We were also fearful that corporations would prefer to make their donations anonymously in order to avoid upsetting their customers or shareholders. Unfortunately, all of our fears were well-founded.

"Citizens United gave corporations the right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. This was a radical and deeply flawed decision. But if corporations are to have this right, they should, at the very least, disclose the money they are spending to influence elections. Indeed, eight of the Supreme Court Justices supported donor disclosure. In the past, many Republicans in Congress also supported disclosure of campaign expenditures. The irony today is that our Republican colleagues have become ardent opponents of disclosure and aggressively blocked legislation that would require individuals and corporations to identify their political spending.

"As a result, in 2010, we saw an estimated $135 million of secret, outside money being injected into the midterm elections. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the percentage of campaign spending from groups that do not have to disclose their donors rose from 1 percent in 2006 to 47 percent in 2010. I have no doubt that this percentage will dramatically rise during this Presidential election cycle. In fact, the Federal Election Commission predicts that more than $11 billion will be spent on the 2012 elections, about double what was spent in 2008. How much of this will be secret money from outside groups?

"The Citizens United decision also opened the door to a new type of organization that can receive unlimited funds for independent expenditures. In 2011, we saw an explosive growth of Super PACs. While these organizations do have to report their donors, the current law enabled them to delay reporting for seven months and only after four primaries had passed. The reporting frequency for Super PACs must be addressed. In addition, a more troubling problem is that these Super PACs frequently team up with a companion 501 (C)(4) organization in order to shield the identity of secret donors, because these organizations are not required to provide any donor disclosure. This must be corrected. A recent Washington Post article stated that "An anonymous donor has given $10 million to run ads attacking President Obama and his policies, escalating the money race that is defining the 2012 presidential campaign. And in the new, free-wheeling environment of independent political giving, the identity of this donor, like many others, is likely to remain a permanent mystery.'

"Today, the Los Angeles Times reports that "Crossroads GPS, a conservative nonprofit group that is one of the most prominent critics of President Obama, raised nearly $77 million in its first 19 months from a small cadre of secret donors, including two dozen who wrote checks of $1 million and more.'

"These distortions of our electoral process are profound and threaten the very basis of our democracy. Our elections are being outsourced to secret, special interest organizations. Many of us in Congress would like to reverse the Court's decision that has opened to floodgates to this special interest mystery money. However, obviously, this would be difficult to bring about anytime soon. In the meantime, I think that it is essential that we let voters know who is spending all this money to influence their vote. The DISCLOSE Act 2012 would do that. Every citizen has a right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and our legislation will allow voters to follow the money and make informed decisions.

"We are fortunate to be joined by the experts that are before us today. I would like to ask each member to address the benefits of disclosure and other ideas that are worthy of pursuit to effectively mitigate the damage caused by the decision in Citizens United."

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