Ranking Member Morelle Opening Remarks at the House Administration Hearing on Protecting Political Speech

Washington, D.C. – Today, Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Joe Morelle (D-NY) delivered the following remarks during a House Administration Committee hearing on protecting political speech:

“Good morning. Thank you all for being with us. Thank you, Chairman Steil, for welcoming us all today.

“Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said over a century ago, ‘sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.’

“This observation, supporting transparency and good governance remains true today.

“Transparency about who is seeking to influence federal elections is critical to democratic self-governance.

“Yet a common refrain from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle is that campaign finance laws, and disclosure laws in particular, have an unlawful chilling effect on political speech.

“I would find this a baffling argument if it were not for my suspicion that it is rooted in cynicism.

“A central aim of the Constitution is to ensure meaningful self-government by the citizens.

“The First Amendment protects the right to engage in the public sphere.

“Disclosure laws don’t silence speech, they simply ask you to stand by it.

“You don’t have to have a law degree to understand this fundamental principle.

“But in its campaign finance decisions, the Supreme Court comprised of folks who do have law degrees, has repeatedly acknowledged the connection between political transparency and democratic self-governance.

“In 1976, Buckley v. Valeo recognized that disclosure ‘provides the electorate with information as to where political campaign money comes from and how it is spent by the candidate in order to aid the voters in evaluating those who seek federal office.’

“’Aiding the voters in evaluating those who seek federal office.’

“Similarly, in 2010, Citizens United v. FEC described how disclosure promotes self-governance by supplying information that ‘enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.’

“Indeed, while Citizens United supercharged dark money in American elections, the decision held, by an 8 to 1 vote, that campaign disclosure rules are not only constitutional, they are preferred to many other forms of regulation.

“Justice Clarence Thomas, however, parted ways with even his fellow conservative justices when it came to the law’s disclosure requirements, casting the lone dissenting vote.

“Given recent reporting, Justice Thomas’ allergic reaction to transparency and disclosure is no surprise.

“He has failed, for years, to disclose lavish gifts from Harlan Crow, a wealthy conservative donor.

“Those gifts include luxury vacations, tuition for a grandnephew at a private boarding school, and even the purchase of the Justice’s mother’s house, where she remains able to live free of charge.

“Justice Thomas’ personal decisions to receive such lavish gifts without reporting them publicly are a quintessential example of why we need disclosure. 

“Another example is the just unsealed, 13-count indictment against Representative George Santos.

“According to the indictment, Representative Santos engaged in a fraudulent scheme to solicit large donations to a fictitious 501(c)(4) organization and a super PAC.

“This scheme’s fraudulent premise is the product of our post-Citizens United era where wealthy, special interest donors try to call the shots.

“I would repeat my call for his resignation.

“A remedy to this onslaught of dark money is disclosure.

“The Supreme Court has consistently recognized that disclosure laws enhance, rather than constrain, the free speech necessary to sustain our democracy.

“The court has opined that disclosure laws directly serve the democratic values animating the First Amendment, ‘securing the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources’ and facilitating ‘uninhibited, robust, and wide-open’ public debate.

“In another 8 to 1 decision, again, with Justice Thomas dissenting, we see a pattern here, the Supreme Court upheld the disclosure of referendum petitions, rejecting requests for anonymous political speech.

“Justice Antonin Scalia that noted progressive bulwark, observed that he does ‘not look forward to society which, thanks to the Supreme Court, campaigns anonymously, hidden from public scrutiny, and protected from the accountability of criticism.’ He famously said that such a future ‘does not resemble the Home of the Brave.’

“I agree with Justice Scalia.

“House Democrats will continue advancing pro-voter, pro-transparency measures in bills like the Freedom to Vote Act, DISCLOSE Act, and Honest Ads Act, among them.

“Strong disclosure requirements can help educate voters about candidates, policies, and sources of political speech, promoting informed decision making in the electoral process.

“Everything we should want in American elections.

“Likewise, disclosure provides the public with information to monitor elected leaders and hold them accountable.

“For that reason, there is also work to be done to advance stock trading reforms and the need to pass reforms that strengthen disclosure on conflicts of interest in our own House and in the courts.

“Transparency measures that inspire confidence in voters and confidence in the American public.

“And I would also note American taxpayers under our bill will not pay a single penny to fund the campaigns of candidates participating in the small donor system. They are surcharges on fines. They are not paid for by the American taxpayer. Despite repeated suggestions that that's not the case.

“And let me before I close, I seek unanimous consent that the unsealed 13 count indictment against Representative Santos be entered into the record.

“I also ask unanimous consent that a New York Times piece published yesterday by David Firestone titled ‘George Santos’ Spectacularly Dumb Alleged Scheme’, which highlights the consequences of the post-Citizens United era, notably deregulation and under enforcement of our campaign finance laws be added to the record.

“With that, I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.”

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