“I appreciate my Republican colleagues working with us on the first bill to help law enforcement find missing children. It’s a very important step.
“I also appreciate my colleagues working with us on the third bill, the Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Prevention Act of 2015. Again, progress is being made on an issue of importance to our constituents.
“I am deeply concerned with the second bill before us - H.R. 5053 - which would prohibit the IRS from collecting the identity of donors who contribute to tax-exempt organizations.
“After the Citizens United Supreme Court decision in 2010, there was a sharp rise in undisclosed money in federal elections, which has created opportunities for influence-buying and corruption.
“This bill potentially opens the door for unlimited, secret money from foreign governments or individuals to be funneled into our elections. Currently, foreign money cannot be legally given or spent in our elections. And the only real protection we have against the use of foreign money by politically active 501(c)(4) organizations is that they must disclose their donors to the IRS.
“Instead of working to move us forward on this problem of undisclosed money in elections - to make the whole system more transparent - this bill moves us backward.
“In this election cycle already, political spending by tax-exempt groups is five times the amount spent at this point during the 2012 cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
“The Republicans have thus far prevented the IRS from issuing regulations on political spending by 501(c)(4) organizations.
“It is no secret as to why they are working to keep donors a secret - the three largest spenders from 2012 - representing fully 51% of the total - include Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS spent $71 million; Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers, spent $36 million; and the American Future Fund, also the Koch brothers, spent $25 million.
“What this bill does, to put it simply, is to solidify the secrecy around the role of big money in campaigns.
“We should not support these efforts to reduce transparency and make it easier for donors to pour unlimited funds into political campaigns, including foreign donors. This essentially puts a veil of secrecy over those donations."
