The first amendment to the Constitution of the United
States says that "Congress shall make no law...
abridging the freedom of speech." Harry Reid has
promised to push through a bill in July which would
abridge groups like Nevada LIFE's free speech and could
make emails like we send out subject to onerous
regulations for asking our supporters to ask a
legislator to vote a certain way on a bill or
communicating about the Senator's record 30 days before
a primary and 120 days before a general election.
Nevada LIFE does not concern itself with issues other
than pro-life issues. But this is an exception because
HR 5175, the DISCLOSE ACT impacts our ability to
advocate for our positions or tell the truth about
office holders and candidates. The DISCLOSE ACT is an
un-American abridgement of free speech. It must be
stopped so that our members and supporters have a right
to support our public advocacy about important and
controversial issues without having their identifying
information posted on the Internet, exposing them to
harassment or retribution by those who may disagree with
their beliefs, and to keep groups like Nevada LIFE from
being subject to onerous reporting requirements. The
bill is designed to keep legislators like Harry Reid's
public record from scrutiny.
Please read the coalition letter below to our two Nevada
Senators that Nevada LIFE has joined. Then call and ask
Senators Ensign and Reid to oppose the DISCLOSE ACT.
A vote Contact
information is in the column to the left.
A cloture vote to end debate and end a filibuster
on the DISCLOSE ACT has been scheduled for Tuesday July
27th. It’s
not often that we are on the same side of the ACLU
http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/Ltr_to_House_re_ACLU_opposes_DISCLOSE_Act.pdf
for the same reasons, but this bill’s impact on free
speech is so bad that we are.
Congressman Dean Heller voted against the DISCLOSE ACT in the
House.
Congresswomen Titus and Berkley voted for it.
·
Coalition Letter On DISCLOSE ACT HR 5175
Dear Senator,
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States is very clear: “Congress shall make no law…
abridging the freedom of speech.” We the undersigned,
representing our Nevada organizations oppose and ask you
to oppose the DISCLOSE ACT, HR 5175, which was recently
passed by the House of Representatives.
The DISCLOSE
ACT is a direct threat to political free speech of both
express and issue advocacy groups to communicate with
their supporters and the public about office holders,
candidates and issues. The DISCLOSE ACT will have a
chilling effect by discouraging certain advocacy groups
from communicating about officeholders by exposing
citizens who support such efforts to harassment and
intimidation, and by smothering organizations in layer
upon layer of record keeping and reporting requirements,
all backed by the threat of civil and criminal
sanctions. This makes the DISCLOSE ACT fundamentally
un-American.
Not only is
the DISCLOSE ACT a threat to many groups, it is
discriminatory and written to benefit one side. The
DISCLOSE ACT provides preferential treatment to powerful
unions which are exempt from the same reporting and
suffocating disclosure requirements of smaller grass
root groups. Proponents of the DISCLOSE ACT say that
their target is large corporations, but the bill makes
no distinction between for profit and non-profit
corporations or between large and small
corporations-except where it exempts a few large
centralized corporations. Many issue advocacy groups are
incorporated and this bill will have a chilling effect
on their advocacy and free speech. The fact that the act
would take place only 30 days from being signed into law
means that the FEC will have no chance to create
regulations to guide organizations on how to proceed.
Where there is any uncertainty, groups will be acting at
their own peril. This creates another chilling effect on
political free speech.
An exemption
carved out for the NRA and a few other large centralized
corporations is worthless for most groups. One set of
criteria in the exemption is that the organization have
“1 million or more dues-paying members in the prior
calendar year, that had members in each of the 50
states…” This further discriminates against groups like
all of ours. What advocacy group in Nevada could
possibly have one million dues paying members in their
organization, much less members in all fifty states, to
exempt them from these limitations on free speech and
the harassment that would come to its donors who would
have their names and addresses posted on the internet?
This gives larger powerful groups an unfair advantage
over smaller ones “to petition the Government.”
Among the
threatening and chilling requirements would be that our
groups turn over our membership and donor lists to the
FEC. This would destroy the anonymity of small donors
and those who choose to contribute to organizations
engaged in controversial issues. It would require that
we list top funders in political communications and have
their names and addresses posted on the internet. As the
ACLU notes, the result would be to deter organizations
“from engaging in public communications that would
subject its donors to disclosure… and donors sensitive
to public disclosure might refrain from giving to the
organization.” In both cases “organization’s ability to
engage in speech will have been curtailed.” The ACLU
says “in both cases, those whose names are disclosed
would be subject to personal, political, or commercial
impacts – something NAACP v. Alabama clearly protects
against.”
It is no
wonder Senator Chuck Schumer says "The deterrent effect
should not be underestimated." (The Influence Industry:
Disclose Act could deter involvement in elections May
13, 2010). Our members and supporters have a right to
support our public advocacy about important and
controversial issues without having their identifying
information posted on the Internet, exposing them to
harassment or retribution by those who may disagree with
their beliefs.
THE DISCLOSE
ACT would also expand the "electioneering
communications" period to 30 days before a primary and
120 days before a general election including asking a
representative to vote a certain way or asking citizens
to ask the representative to do the same. That takes two
more months out of an election year in which we are
subject to special requirements backed by the threat of
civil and criminal penalties. The ACLU notes that if an
"issue happens to be on the legislative schedule during
this new expanded period, such advocacy organizations
are effectively denied the use of a major communications
tool in seeking to advance their priorities."
Earlier we
quoted the first amendment: “Congress shall make no law…
abridging the freedom of speech.” In a May 19th letter
to the Committee on House Administration, eight past
members of the FEC wrote, “the FEC now has differing
regulations for 33 types of contributions and speech and
71 different types of speakers.” There are over 800
pages of federal laws and regulations governing
“political” speech. There are more than 1,200 pages in
the Federal Register explaining its decisions. H.R. 5175
would add 90 more pages of limitations on free speech
about office holders, candidates and pending
legislation. This would exponentially raise the cost of
free speech and the right to petition our government.
The DISCLOSE
ACT aims to silence political speech by intimidation and
onerous regulation. Such efforts should be rejected
swiftly. Thus, on behalf of the many Nevadans we
represent, we urge you to reject this un-American and
discriminatory assault on free speech by opposing the
DISCLOSE ACT.
Sincerely,
Chuck Muth, Citizen Outreach
Janine Hansen, Nevada Eagle Forum
Melissa Clement, Nevada Right to Life
Debbie Landis, Action is Brewing
Don Nelson, Nevada LIFE
Richard Ziser, Nevada Concerned Citizens
Eric Odom, Liberty First PAC
John Wagner, Independent American Party
Lynn Chapman, Nevada Families
Other Letters to Congress Regarding the DISCLOSE
ACT.
DISCLOSE ACT Coaltion Letter.
National Right To Life Letter to US Senate
ACLU Letter to the Senate Urging a 'No' Vote on the DISCLOSE Act
NV Coaltion Press
Release July 13, 2010
