This page contains bill sponsorships in the Senate and House. Bill sponsorships indicate the topics that legislators are most interested in, and spend the most time on.

12-HR4010 on Feb 9, 2012

• Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act of 2012 or DISCLOSE Act:
• Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to add to the definition of "independent expenditure" an expenditure by a person that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, or takes a position on a candidates, qualifications, or fitness for office.
• Expands the period during which certain communications are treated as electioneering communications.
• Prescribes disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, and certain other entities, including a political committee with an account established for the purpose of accepting donations or contributions that do not comply with the contribution limits or source prohibitions under FECA (but only with respect to such accounts).
• Repeals the prohibition against political contributions by individuals age 17 or younger.

• On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, ruled that prohibiting corporations and unions from making independent expenditures in political campaigns was unconstitutional. This ruling is frequently described as permitting corporations and unions to donate to political campaigns, but these claims are incorrect. The ruling did remove the previous ban on corporations and organizations using their funds for direct advocacy, including endorsing for or against specific candidates, actions that were previously prohibited.

  The result of Citizens United was that "Super PACs" spent millions on TV ads in the 2012 election, advocating both issues and candidates. The DISCLOSE Act attempts to reduce the negative effect of Citizens United by requiring disclosure of independent expenditures made by advocacy groups.

  ---

  Participating counts on VoteMatch question 16. Question 16: Stricter limits on political campaign funds Scores: -2=Strongly oppose; -1=Oppose; 0=neutral; 1=Support; 2=Strongly support.
  • Topic: Government Reform
  • Headline: Sponsored disclosure of independent campaign expenditures (Score: 2)
  • Headline 2: Require full disclosure of independent campaign expenditures (Score: 2)
    
    
  • Key for participation codes:
  • Sponsorships: p=sponsored; o=co-sponsored; s=signed
  • Memberships: c=chair; m=member; e=endorsed; f=profiled; s=scored
  • Resolutions: i=introduced; w=wrote; a=adopted
  • Cases: w=wrote; j=joined; d=dissented; c=concurred
  • Surveys: '+' supports; '-' opposes.
  
  
  

  Democrats participating in 12-HR4010
  Gary Ackerman	s2o	New York Dem./Ind./Lib. (Retiring 2012)	Feb 14, 2012
  Tammy Baldwin	s2o	WI Democratic Challenger	Feb 14, 2012
  Ron Barber	s2o	Arizona Democrat	Sep 10, 2012
  Karen Bass	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Xavier Becerra	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Howard Berman	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Timothy Bishop	s2o	New York Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Earl Blumenauer	s2o	Oregon Democrat	Feb 15, 2012
  Suzanne Bonamici	s2o	Oregon Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Leonard Boswell	s2o	Iowa Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Robert Brady	s2o	Pennsylvania Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Bruce Braley	s2o	Iowa Democrat	Mar 6, 2012
  Corrine Brown	s2o	Florida Democrat	Mar 5, 2012
  G.K. Butterfield	s2o	North Carolina Democrat	Mar 6, 2012
  Lois Capps	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Michael Capuano	s2o	MA Former Democratic Primary Senate Challenger (2009)	Feb 15, 2012
  Dennis Cardoza	s2o	California Democrat (Retiring 2012)	Mar 5, 2012
  Russ Carnahan	s2o	Missouri Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  John Carney	s2o	Delaware Democrat	Jul 12, 2012
  Andre Carson	s2o	Indiana Democrat	Feb 29, 2012
  Kathy Castor	s2o	Florida Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Judy Chu	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  David Cicilline	s2o	Rhode Island Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Hansen Clarke	s2o	Michigan Democrat	Feb 29, 2012
  Yvette Clarke	s2o	New York Democrat	Feb 27, 2012
  James Clyburn	s2o	South Carolina Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Steve Cohen	s2o	Tennessee Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  John Conyers	s2o	Michigan Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Jim Costa	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Jerry Costello	s2o	Illinois Democrat (Retiring 2012)	Feb 27, 2012
  Joe Courtney	s2o	Connecticut Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Joseph Crowley	s2o	New York Democrat	Mar 6, 2012
  Henry Cuellar	s2o	Texas Democrat	Mar 1, 2012
  Elijah Cummings	s2o	Maryland Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Danny Davis	s2o	Illinois Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Susan Davis	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Diana DeGette	s2o	Colorado Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Rosa DeLauro	s2o	Connecticut Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Lloyd Doggett	s2o	Texas Democrat	Feb 27, 2012
  Donna Edwards	s2o	Maryland Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Keith Ellison	s2o	Minnesota Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Eliot Engel	s2o	New York Democrat/Liberal	Feb 29, 2012
  Anna Eshoo	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Eni Faleomavaega	s2o	Samoa Democrat	Mar 19, 2012
  Sam Farr	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Chaka Fattah	s2o	Pennsylvania Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Bob Filner	s2o	California Democrat (Mayoral run 2011)	Feb 9, 2012
  Barney Frank	s2o	Massachusetts Democrat (Retiring 2012)	Feb 9, 2012
  Marcia Fudge	s2o	Ohio Democrat	Mar 8, 2012
  John Garamendi	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Charles Gonzalez	s2o	Texas Democrat (Retiring 2012)	Feb 9, 2012
  Al Green	s2o	Texas Democrat	Mar 1, 2012
  Gene Green	s2o	Texas Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Raul Grijalva	s2o	Arizona Democrat	Feb 29, 2012
  Luis Gutierrez	s2o	Illinois Democrat	Mar 1, 2012
  Janice Hahn	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Colleen Hanabusa	s2o	Hawaii Democrat	Mar 19, 2012
  Alcee Hastings	s2o	Florida Democrat	Feb 29, 2012
  Martin Heinrich	s2o	New Mexico Democrat (Senate run 2012)	Jul 18, 2012
  Brian Higgins	s2o	New York Democrat	Mar 8, 2012
  Maurice Hinchey	s2o	New York Dem/Working-Fam.(Retired 2012)	Feb 17, 2012
  Ruben Hinojosa	s2o	Texas Democrat	Feb 27, 2012
  Mazie Hirono	s2o	Hawaii Democrat (Senate run 2012)	Jul 12, 2012
  Rush Holt	s2o	New Jersey Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Steny Hoyer	s2o	Maryland Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Jay Inslee	s2o	WA Democrat	Mar 5, 2012
  Steve Israel	s2o	New York Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Sheila Jackson Lee	s2o	Texas Democrat	Feb 16, 2012
  Marcy Kaptur	s2o	Ohio Democrat	Feb 17, 2012
  Dale Kildee	s2o	Michigan Democrat (Retiring 2012)	Feb 29, 2012
  Dennis Kucinich	s2o	Ohio Democrat (Lost 2012 Primary)	Feb 27, 2012
  James Langevin	s2o	Rhode Island Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Rick Larsen	s2o	Washington Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  John Larson	s2o	Connecticut Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Barbara Lee	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Sander Levin	s2o	Michigan Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  John Lewis	s2o	Georgia Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  David Loebsack	s2o	Iowa Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Zoe Lofgren	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Nita Lowey	s2o	New York Democrat	Feb 29, 2012
  Carolyn Maloney	s2o	New York Democrat/Liberal	Feb 9, 2012
  Doris Matsui	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Carolyn McCarthy	s2o	New York Dem./Ind./Working-Families	Feb 29, 2012
  Betty McCollum	s2o	Minnesota Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Jim McDermott	s2o	Washington Democrat	Feb 17, 2012
  Jerry McNerney	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  George Miller	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Gwen Moore	s2o	Wisconsin Democrat	Feb 29, 2012
  James Moran	s2o	Virginia Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Jerrold Nadler	s2o	New York Dem./Lib./Working-Families	Feb 9, 2012
  Grace Napolitano	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Richard Neal	s2o	Massachusetts Democrat	Feb 27, 2012
  John Olver	s2o	Massachusetts Democrat (Retiring 2012)	Feb 9, 2012
  Frank Pallone	s2o	New Jersey Democrat	Mar 8, 2012
  Bill Pascrell	s2o	New Jersey Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Ed Pastor	s2o	Arizona Democrat	Feb 15, 2012
  Ed Perlmutter	s2o	Colorado Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Gary Peters	s2o	Michigan Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Chellie Pingree	s2o	Maine Democrat	Feb 16, 2012
  Jared Polis	s2o	Colorado Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Mike Quigley	s2o	Illinois Democrat	Feb 15, 2012
  Charles Rangel	s2o	New York Dem./Lib./Working-Families	Feb 9, 2012
  Silvestre Reyes	s2o	Texas Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Laura Richardson	s2o	California Democrat	Mar 8, 2012
  Cedric Richmond	s2o	Louisiana Democrat	Feb 29, 2012
  Steven Rothman	s2o	New Jersey Democrat	Feb 27, 2012
  Lucille Roybal-Allard	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Dutch Ruppersberger	s2o	Maryland Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Bobby Rush	s2o	Illinois Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Tim Ryan	s2o	Ohio Democrat	Feb 27, 2012
  Linda Sanchez	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Loretta Sanchez	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  John Sarbanes	s2o	Maryland Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Adam Schiff	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Allyson Schwartz	s2o	Pennsylvania Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Jose Serrano	s2o	New York Democrat/Liberal	Feb 15, 2012
  Terri Sewell	s2o	Alabama Democrat	Mar 19, 2012
  Brad Sherman	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Albio Sires	s2o	New Jersey Democrat	Mar 1, 2012
  Louise Slaughter	s2o	New York Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Jackie Speier	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Betty Sutton	s2o	Ohio Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Mike Thompson	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  John Tierney	s2o	Massachusetts Democrat	Mar 20, 2012
  Paul Tonko	s2o	New York Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Niki Tsongas	s2o	Massachusetts Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Chris Van Hollen	s1p	Maryland Democrat
  Nydia Velazquez	s2o	New York Democrat/Working-Families	Feb 9, 2012
  Peter Visclosky	s2o	Indiana Democrat	Feb 14, 2012
  Debbie Wasserman Schultz	s2o	Florida Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Maxine Waters	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Henry Waxman	s2o	California Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Peter Welch	s2o	Vermont Democrat	Feb 9, 2012
  Frederica Wilson	s2o	Florida Democrat	Mar 5, 2012
  Lynn Woolsey	s2o	California Democrat (Retiring 2012)	Feb 9, 2012
  John Yarmuth	s2o	Kentucky Democrat	Feb 9, 2012

  
  
  

  Republicans participating in 12-HR4010

  
  
  

  Independents participating in 12-HR4010
  Donna Christensen	s2o	Virgin Islands -	Feb 9, 2012

  
  
  

  Total recorded by OnTheIssues:

  Democrats: 136 Republicans: 0 Independents: 1