Washington, DC
- Voters deserve to know who is paying for political advertisements, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and 10 of his fellow senators wrote today in a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). As the FEC considers changes to its rules in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC, the senators called on the Commission to implement broad disclosure and disclaimer requirements so that voters know who is funding campaign-related commercials. Through Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court struck down limitations on corporate funding of political advertising.
Udall was joined on the letter by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Al Franken (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
Pointing to the tens of millions of dollars that have already been spent in the early stages of the 2012 presidential election on campaign-related advertising by "Super PACs," which have limited disclosure requirements for their donors, the senators called on the FEC to require that individual contributors reveal their identities when making substantial contributions to such organizations. The senators also urged the Commission to consider rules requiring disclosure of donors who seek to remain anonymous by giving to non-profits that then donate to Super PACs.
The text of the senators' letter to the FEC is below:
