U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) issued the following statement after voting against the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that would restrict free speech and creates special exemptions for favored special interest groups:

“After the U.S. Supreme Court decided earlier this year to block government attempts to restrict political speech, the majority party’s top campaign operatives launched an effort to block organizations from publicly opposing their policies to expand the reach of the federal government.  The majority maintains that the DISCLOSE Act is about bringing greater transparency to the election process, but their legislation seeks to silence opposing views while giving special exemptions to select groups that support their big government agenda.”

The DISCLOSE Act, introduced by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, is designed to block organizations from engaging in political debate before the upcoming elections by requiring them to comply with cumbersome, costly disclosure requirements and restrictions.  Authors of the legislation, however, have exempted unions from the legislations’ major restrictions and now they plan to exempt large influential special interest groups. 

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