Political Process
Campaign Finance Reform
There have been several efforts over the last 15 years to prohibit U.S. subsidiaries and their American employees from fully participating in the political process. OFII actively works to defeat such discriminatory initiatives.
In April 2010, Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD-8) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced the DISCLOSE Act in response to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which afforded additional political spending rights to corporations. Concerns over “foreign” influence in the U.S. political process quickly became a high profile issue in the debate over this legislation. OFII successfully worked with bill sponsors to modify the language so that that American employees working for U.S. subsidiaries would have the same political rights as others, e.g., maintaining their ability to organize and maintain Political Action Committees (PACs). However, because the legislation would redefine U.S. subsidiaries as “foreign nationals,” it stops short in providing them the additional rights offered to U.S.-headquartered companies by the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. OFII opposes this reclassification of U.S. subsidiaries and believes it could have implications beyond campaign finance rules that could affect the ability for U.S. subsidiaries to conduct business in the United States.
The House passed the Disclose Act on June 24, 2010, but the bill stalled after twice failing to achieve cloture in the Senate. No further action is expected on this bill before the end of the year.
Most recently on October 18, 2010, 15 Senators signed a letter to the commissioners of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) urging them to restrict the political rights of U.S. subsidiaries and define these companies as “foreign nationals.” The letter inaccurately and unfairly portrays U.S. subsidiaries as a source of foreign influence in U.S. politics and suggests regulatory changes that curtail the political rights of the 5.5 million American employees of these companies. In response, OFII sent letters to the FEC and to each of the 15 Senators and remains dedicated to fight for the rights of these American employees to fully participate in the political process.
OFII DOCUMENTS:
OFII Letter to Senator Franken re letter to Federal Election Commission; October 22, 2010
OFII Letter to Federal Election Commission re Senator's letters of Concern Over U.S. Subsidiaries Contributing to Elections; October 22, 2010
OFII Letter to House Administration re Concern Over DISCLOSE ACT; May 19, 2010
OFII Statement for the Record to the Senate Rules Committee Examining the SCOTUS Decision on Campaign Spending; February 2, 2010
OFII Comments to Federal Elections Commission on Proposed Rules to Limit U.S. Subsidiary Involvement in Political Process; September 13, 2002
OTHER:
House Floor Debate on Gillmor/Tanner Amendment; June 19, 1998
POLITICAL PROCESS
Concerns over “foreign influence” in the political process have led to legislative efforts to restrict the political rights of American citizens working for insourcing companies. OFII works to ensure that U.S. subsidiaries, defined by law as U.S. companies, and their U.S. workers are treated no less favorably under campaign finance rules than other domestic companies.
Read More...Senators Schumer (D-NY), McCaskill (D-MO) and Obama (D-IL) introduced the “The Closing the Foreign Lobbying Loophole Act” in June 2008, which would require individuals who lobby for foreign companies – including U.S. subsidiaries of foreign firms - to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). . Current law provides an exemption from FARA registration for individuals representing commercial interests who register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). The purpose of the FARA exemption was to properly differentiate between private and government entities. ...
Read More...There have been several efforts over the last 15 years to prohibit U.S. subsidiaries and their American employees from fully participating in the political process. OFII actively works to defeat such discriminatory initiatives. In April 2010, Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD-8) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced the DISCLOSE Act in response to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which afforded additional political spending rights to corporations. Concerns over “foreign” influence in the U.S. political process quickly became a high profile...
Read More...