VIDEO: Hirono Votes to Advance Legislation Increasing Transparency and Accountability in Political Spending, Slams Republicans for Continued Obstruction

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted to advance the DISCLOSE Act of 2021, legislation to end dark-money spending in our elections. The legislation failed by a vote of 49-49, without a single Republican voting in favor.

Shortly before voting, Senator Hirono spoke about the bill on the Senate floor, highlighting how anonymous dark money spending by special interest groups is corrupting our elections, our courts, and our democracy, and slammed Republicans for their continued obstruction of this legislation.

“When 85 percent of the American people support reproductive freedom, 65 percent of the American people support gun safety, and 63 percent of the American people support protecting the right to vote, and Senate Republicans are preventing us from even having a legislative debate on the Senate floor, what does that tell you,” said Senator Hirono in her remarks. “It tells you that too many elected officials are no longer answering to the people, but instead to the secret donors and corporations who are funding their campaigns.”

In her remarks, Senator Hirono also condemned Senate Republicans, who blocked the Senate from even debating the bill just minutes after her speech.

“There is bipartisan agreement to limit dark money, but sadly, we know Republicans too often say one thing and do another, because not a single one of them so far has voiced support for even considering the DISCLOSE Act,” continued Senator Hirono. “A bill that would increase transparency and accountability in political spending; a bill that would do the very thing that some leading Republicans have called for.”

“For the sake of our democracy, we need to get rid of the anonymous spending influencing our elections and our courts. That is a goal that everyone should be able to get behind, regardless of whether you’re a Democrat or Republican,” said Senator Hirono. “We cannot accept a country where billionaires and corporations can secretly buy our elections, choose our leaders, and determine the fate of this country.”

Senator Hirono’s full remarks are below and can be viewed here. 

Our country was built on the founding principle of democracy—where every person has a say. A democracy where the American people can make their voices heard in free and fair elections—and we, the people, can decide the direction of our country.

But in 2010, the Roberts Court—in an obvious act of judicial activism—struck down corporate campaign contribution restrictions found in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Suddenly, the Supreme Court said that corporations are people who have first amendment constitutional rights to make campaign contributions. This decision opened the flood gates to billions of dollars of dark money to influence our elections, our Courts, and our thinking on issues from gun safety to abortion.

When the Supreme Court held that political speech by a corporation is protected by the First Amendment, it left for Congress just the narrow authority to take action to require disclosures of donor names. After knock-down drag out negotiations in the U.S. House, in 2010, I was there, the House passed a disclosure bill, only to see it fail in the Senate very narrowly without the support of a single Republican.

Back then, we had the chance to require political spending disclosures, so that the American people could see who was contributing millions to influence election outcomes. So here we are, more than a decade later, and now it’s not millions, but billions of dollars flowing undisclosed into races across the country. Our country is awash in undisclosed money that is subverting the will of the American people.

When 85% of the American people support reproductive freedom, 65% of American people support gun safety, and 63% of the American people support protecting the right to vote, and Senate Republicans are preventing us from even having a legislative debate on the floor on these issues, what does that tell you?

It tells you that too many elected officials are no longer answering to the people, but instead to the secret donors and corporations who are funding their campaigns. But it’s not just elected officials that have been influenced—mega-corporations and the ultra-wealthy have spent millions to stack our Courts. One dark money group already spent more than $30 million in total on the nominations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court where they sit, in my view, busily overturning precedent, such as Roe v. Wade.

For the sake of our democracy, we need to get rid of the anonymous spending influencing our elections and our courts. That is a goal that everyone should be able to get behind, regardless of whether you’re a Democrat or Republican. In fact, many of my Republican colleagues agree. The senior Senator from Iowa said dark money is, “attacking the independence of the judiciary.” Another said dark money is, “sowing public distrust in the legitimacy of the Supreme Court."

There is bipartisan agreement to limit dark money, but sadly, we know Republicans too often say one thing and do another, because not a single one of them so far has voiced support for even considering the DISCLOSE Act, which we will be voting to advance today—a bill that would increase transparency and accountability in political spending; a bill that would do the very thing that some leading Republicans have called for.

When given the chance, I hope my Republican colleagues step up for the American people, and not their special interest donors. We shall see. We cannot accept a country where billionaires and corporations can secretly buy our elections, choose our leaders, and determine the fate of this country. 

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