House Members Urge Obama to Veto Bill if Campaign Finance Riders Not Removed

Today, 47 members of the House of Representatives signed and sent a letter to President Obama urging the President to block campaign finance riders that have been placed in the House Financial Services Appropriations bill.

The letter organized by Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) states that the bill would prevent the Executive Branch from issuing rules to require campaign finance disclosure by government contractors and non-profit “social welfare” organizations, as well as shareholder disclosure by corporations.

The letter from House members urges the president to veto this legislation if the riders are not removed from the bill.

According to Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer:

The House Financial Services Appropriations bill would block the Executive Branch from taking steps to provide citizens with campaign finance information they have a right to know.

In particular, the legislation would block President Obama from issuing an Executive Order, currently under consideration in the White House, to require government contractors to publicly disclose all of their campaign activities.

President Obama should act promptly to issue the Executive Order and thereby make a vital breakthrough in beginning to expose the dark money currently being laundered into federal elections. President Obama also should make publicly clear that he will veto any legislation that restricts the Executive Branch from addressing the problem of dark money contributions being spent in federal elections.

To read the letter: click here.