Democrats fail to ram partisan campaign bill through U.S. Senate

By Gregg Keller Today, by only a one vote margin, the liberals in the U.S. Senate failed to invoke cloture and end debate on the so-called “DISCLOSE” Act. If passed, the cynical DISCLOSE Act championed by liberals Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer would have suppressed the First Amendment free speech rights of conservative organizations while creating carve-outs for liberal organizations of which Schumer and Reid approve. Faith & Freedom joined with dozens of other major conservative organizations in signing a coalition letter to every member of the U.S. Senate calling on them to vote “NO” on cloture and final passage. Additionally, FFC contacted our 400,000 members and activists and asked them to contact their U.S. Senator and urge them to oppose the bill. The DISCLOSE Act supported by Congressional Democrats was one of the most egregious and transparent power grabs in the history of modern politics. It made public disclosure of donors to grassroots conservative organizations, whether they funded a political communication or not, subjecting contributors to potential regulatory and public harassment in a clear attempt to intimidate private citizens or corporations from supporting grassroots groups such as FFC. In a partisan power grab, it exempted labor unions, the Sierra Club, and other liberal advocacy groups. It also exempted the National Rifle Association, primarily because Harry Reid and Democrats knew if the NRA was included in the bill, it would go down to defeat. “Faith & Freedom Coalition is proud to have joined dozens of major conservative organizations in ensuring liberal Democrats in the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the DISCLOSE Act today,” said Faith & Freedom Coalition Executive Director Gregg Keller. “We communicated with every member of the U.S. Senate prior to this vote, asking for their opposition to this cynical piece of liberal legislation. We asked our grassroots army of more than 400,000 members across the country to make their voices heard on this issue and we were glad to help make sure that their words were heeded.” You can read more about the defeat of the DISCLOSE Act here.