Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am pleased that I could be here today to join you, to join Senator Whitehouse and our colleagues who have been working to try to bring to light for the public the serious and ongoing problem of excessive campaign spending. I congratulate Senator Whitehouse for all of his work in leading this effort. It has been very important.

This excessive spending has been a problem for the last 2 years, since the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, because their decision has allowed for the formation of what has been called super PACs, which are really organizations that can spend unlimited amounts of money without ever having to disclose where that money came from. So the public doesn't know who is spending the money, doesn't know how the decisions about spending are made.

We are actually in the middle of the first Presidential election since that Supreme Court decision, and we can see the dramatic impact of that spending. There are now more than 500 super PACs registered with the Federal Election Commission. They are permitted to raise and spend unlimited amounts of secret money to fund political advertisements.

Again, I want to emphasize the fact that we do not know where this money is coming from. We do not know if it is coming from corporations. We have heard a lot of stories and seen a lot of stories that there are very wealthy individuals who are putting up money for these super PACs. But the amount of money that has been spent by these super PACs so far this election cycle alone has just topped $100 million. Nearly $80 million of that came from just five groups.

As we are looking at this money being spent, it is important for all of us to reflect on our national priorities. What does it say about our country that we allow this kind of deluge of money to flood our electoral process? Who is really being represented? Are average voters in America being represented in this process?

To provide some perspective, I think it might be useful to examine what else this amount of money could pay for. In the past few weeks we have been discussing the importance of providing survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault with the resources they need by reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. What has already been spent so far by these super PACs, $100 million, could fund all of the domestic violence and sexual assault assistance in the State of New Hampshire for 20 years. It could serve more than 320,000 victims.

The New Hampshire job training program provides workers with valuable instruction at community colleges across our State. It prepares workers for high-skilled jobs and creates a stronger economy. With the $100 million that has been spent by these super PACs, we could train 288,434 workers in New Hampshire. Mr. President, $100 million would provide low-income heating assistance to more than 135,000 households. That is enough to keep New Hampshire's neediest families warm for three winters.

The starting salary for a police officer in the city of Manchester, the largest city in New Hampshire, is $50,000. With $100 million we could put an additional 2,000 police officers on the street. Instead, this money is being spent on political advertisements, millions of dollars from groups that refuse to disclose their donors. Most of these expenditures are being made on attack ads. According to a study by the Wesleyan Media Project, at this point during the last Presidential campaign in 2008, just 10 percent of the ads were negative. Now, in this Presidential campaign, 70 percent of those ads are negative. It is no wonder that Americans are becoming increasingly disillusioned with our political process.

The challenges confronting this country are significant. We need Americans to be engaged and invested in our political process, not t[Page: S3474]
hrowing up their hands in frustration as the attack ads pile up. We need campaign finance reform.

I have been pleased to work with the Presiding Officer, with Senator Whitehouse, and with all of our colleagues in developing the DISCLOSE Act, which makes some important changes to our system. Senator Whitehouse described the DISCLOSE Act very well. It will make sure voters know who is paying for all of these campaign ads. It does not eliminate super PACs, but it is a very important step in the right direction.

I urge all our colleagues to join us in calling for change and urging reform of our campaign finance system. I urge everyone in this body to support the DISCLOSE Act.

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