DISCLOSE Act

And it's just absurd, which is why we have to, we obviously have to work toward getting rid of it.

By the way, I mentioned passing the Disclose Act and getting rid of secret money in politics.

To do that, we're gonna need to get rid of this super majority requirement on the filibuster.

This is an essential reform that the Senate needs to take.

It's insane that you need you know, a super majority to pass some of these important pieces of legislation.

I was the author of the Disclose Act years ago.

We got it out of the House.

It got 59 votes in the United States Senate, but it failed because it didn't get 60.

There's a proposed fix to large anonymous campaign finance donations.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman Chris Pappas, among others, have reintroduced the Disclose Act.

The democracy is strengthened by casting light on Spending in Elections Act.

first introduced in 2010 by Senator Charles Schumer after the Citizens United decision.

This law would require anyone giving $10,000 or more in a political donation to be named, bar foreign nationals from donating money to influence elections, and expand disclosure rules to online and digital ads and show top funders on audio and video ads.

The bill was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration, where it has stalled.

Yeah, those opposed to the DISCLOSE Act say restricting spending and eliminating anonymity interfere with free speech, as once identified, people may be subject to harassment for what they say.

And limiting spending restricts political speech.

Two, I want you to call your representatives.

The DISCLOSE Act, legislation that would force more transparency around dark money, has been reintroduced in Congress repeatedly since 2010 and has never passed.

Tell them you want that to change.

Three, support the watchdogs.

But let me stop you right there, because my understanding of reform has always been the complete opposite.

Don't we have proposals like the Disclose Act? Doesn't that act try to force dark money into the light by requiring these shadow groups and shell companies to report their massive donors?

Yes, transparency has been the traditional goal.

Right.

And actually, I think that there's becoming more and more agreement on the need to address corruption on both sides of the aisle.

I think that ideas like passing the DISCLOSE Act to get dark money out of politics or, uh, you know, a, a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, I hear more and more agreement upon that.

When I'm out knocking doors, it doesn't matter if it's a Republican, an independent, uh, I'm out here talking about the need for term limits, to ban members of Congress from owning and trading stocks because, like the person I'm running against, Ashley Hinson, has become 15 times more wealthy, uh, just in six years of being up in DC.

These are issues that I think there's actually a lot of agreement on and would love to be able to get up to the US Senate and, uh, and address them.

I understand where they're coming from, I suppose.

If that were truly the case, then why would you need to, why would we even need things like the Disclose Act?

Mm.

And I agree with, with Nikki, it's disclosure and transparency and, you know, this regulation, as Kelly mentioned too.

... out to what we're doing just more largest, we head into this really, again, consequential election.

Everyone tends to be.

But we're focusing on disclosure and transparency and accountability, so of course the, we'll continue to pushing for DISCLOSE Act and reforms that voters know who's paying for their election, which is why we did the campaign finance element.

Public testimony, we've testified around the DISCLOSE Act, why it's important.

... is I'm hearing more and more and more from Iowans saying, "No, this is a level of corruption that I'm not comfortable with, uh, and, and we have to address it." And so even when I'm talking to an extreme conservative, saying, "Look, we need to root out the, uh, th- this corruption on both ends.

We need to overturn Citizens United, we need to pass the Disclose Act.

I'm in favor of term limits, banning members of Congress from owning and trading stock, putting mandates of members of Congress to host annual town halls, 'cause they should be accountable to the people." That is unanimously agreed upon in Iowa.

And the other thing I would say, I don't think there's a fatalism to this.