H.R. 1’s Amendment To Strengthen Ban on Foreign Election Spending

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FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | March 7, 2019freadshot

“Rep. Slotkin’s amendment would make illegal in future elections the outrageous abuses perpetrated by Russia in the 2016 presidential election.”

As the House works its way through more than 70 amendments being offered this week to H.R. 1, the For the People Act, Democracy 21 is supporting an important amendment to prohibit in future elections major abuses that were carried out by Russia in the 2016 presidential election.

We have worked on the proposal with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), and now with Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who will introduce the amendment on the House floor.

Under existing law, foreign nationals – including foreign governments, foreign citizens, and foreign corporations – are prohibited from making contributions, independent expenditures, or electioneering communications to influence U.S. elections.

Russia and its agents, however, ran ads attacking or promoting candidates in the 2016 presidential election without express advocacy – the standard set by the Supreme Court for determining whether communications by outside groups are campaign ads.

Russia also ran ads that sought to influence the outcome of the presidential election by using controversial issues in ads designed to incite anger and hatred and inflame divisions in the American electorate without mentioning candidates by name.

Rep. Slotkin’s amendment extends the ban on foreign spending to any ad that “promotes, supports, attacks, or opposes” a candidate for election, whether or not the ads contain express advocacy.

The amendment also extends the foreign ban to prohibit foreign governments from running ads “that discusses a national legislative issue of public importance” in an election year. This would stop the divisive ads run by Russia in 2016 that discussed policy issues in a manner designed to incite anger and hatred among citizens in order to suppress voting and influence the election.

Rep. Slotkin’s amendment would make illegal in future elections the outrageous abuses perpetrated by Russia in the 2016 presidential election.

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Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections. See previous Notes from Fred here.