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June 15, 2010


Hon. Christopher Lee (sent to all members of the WNY Congressional delegation)
U.S. House of Representatives
1711Longworth House Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Lee:

On behalf of the 2,500 employer members of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, I urge your strong opposition to H.R. 5175, the Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act, commonly known as the “DISCLOSE Act”, given that the legislation constitutes a direct and unconstitutional attack on the First Amendment rights of businesses across the country.

On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court held that the 1st Amendment guarantees all corporations the right to spend unlimited amounts of money from their general treasuries on independently produced advertisements and communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate. Introduced only four months later, H.R. 5175 is a broad and rushed response to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC ruling. 

Firstly, the DISCLOSE Act expands pre-Citizens United campaign finance regulations in a way that unfairly and disproportionally targets election spending by corporations – a significant departure from the bipartisan McCain-Feingold Act, in which Congress went to great lengths to ensure that businesses and unions were treated equally. Moreover, through onerous regulatory requirements, the DISCLOSE Act seeks to restrict political speech, which the Supreme Court explicitly ruled that Congress was not directly allowed to do. 

One of the most alarming provisions of the DISCLOSE Act is that, while the Supreme Court overturned spending limits for both corporations and unions in its Citizens United v. FEC ruling, H.R. 5175 seeks to reimpose those limits only on corporations. Businesses, trade associations and non-profit organizations are vital participants in the national political debate and the bill’s outright display of partisanship threatens the integrity of our entire electoral system.

Beyond the reinstatement of corporate spending limits, the DISCLOSE Act extends the period in which “electioneering communications” must be paid for by a PAC, expands the pre-Citizens United definition of “independent expenditure,” and creates new “enhanced disclosure” requirements that again infringe on protections afforded to corporations, nonprofits (and unions) by the First Amendment.

In addition to all of the above, the bill proposes a ban on all political expenditures by American corporations with 20% or more foreign ownership – completely silencing companies with any foreign minority ownership while imposing no comparable restrictions on unions with international membership or leadership.

By attempting to quiet corporations’ voice in the political process while enabling unions to retain enormous influence, the DISCLOSE Act completely abandons the long standing tradition of treating businesses and unions fairly. I urge you to oppose the DISCLOSE Act and bring to the attention of your House colleagues the repercussions that this bill could have on the free speech rights of the business community and the role our members are allowed to play in the national elections process.

Sincerely,

Andrew J. Rudnick