Washington, DC – Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) today offered a Motion to Recommit prohibiting corporate fines collected by the Federal Trade Commission from going to fund congressional campaigns as would be established under H.R. 1. Under H.R. 1, public funds from corporate fines would be used to fund their 6 to 1 matching program, which would create the first-ever public funding of congressional campaigns.
Text of Davis' remarks:
H.R. 1, the Democrats' so-called For the People Act, would create a public money slush fund using corporate fines to fund political campaigns, including their own.
Based on 2022 numbers, H.R. 1 would add up to $7.2 million into each congressional candidate's campaign.
My motion would ensure any fines collected by the Federal Trade Commission under this bill would go to the victims of fraud and not be used as a pathway to fund congressional campaign coffers.
Victims like the thousands of students that were cheated out of $62 million by a debt relief scam recently prosecuted by the FTC…
Or the patients with liver disease who spent thousands on a supplement that was deceptively marketed as a treatment…
Or those struggling with opioid abuse who were part of a scheme that overcharged them for a medication to help minimize withdrawal symptoms…
The FTC has worked to ensure these victims are compensated…
But if H.R. 1 were to become law, many of these fine structures would be weaponized to boost public funds given to candidates to pay for their campaign mailers, political consultants, or attack ads. Our focus should be on assisting victims, not using public dollars to fund our own campaigns.
Again, based on 2022 numbers, that's up to $7.2 million per congressional candidate.
H.R. 1 is often touted by my Democrat colleagues and the media as voting rights legislation, but that couldn't be further from the truth. How does weaponizing our victim compensation system to line the pockets of politicians help people vote or really help the people at all?
Mr. Speaker, if we adopt this Motion to Recommit, we will instruct the Committee on Energy and Commerce to consider my amendment to H.R. 2668 that would prevent any public funds collected because of this bill from going into the campaign coffers of members of Congress or congressional candidates and instead keep the fines process focused on helping the victims of fraud. I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the Record immediately prior to the vote on the Motion to Recommit.
I urge support for the Motion to Recommit at the appropriate time, a NO vote on the underlying bill, and I yield back. | |
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