Bills
| 3.23.22

Should Donations to Presidential Library Foundations be Disclosed? (H.R. 1063)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 1063?

(Updated September 2, 2019)

This bill would require organizations that fundraise for presidential libraries to report donor information and donation amounts on a quarterly basis. The data would then be displayed — in a free, searchable, sortable, and downloadable format — on the National Archives website within 30 days of receiving the fundraising organization’s report.

The reporting requirements would apply to all donations (either monetary or in-kind) that exceed $200 in value. Donor names, addresses, occupations, and the amount of the donation would all be made publicly available. These requirements would be in effect while the President is in office, and would end when the President leaves office or when the federal government assumes control of the library — whichever happens later.

Argument in favor

Making a donation towards a presidential library is essentially a political donation, but without campaign contribution limits — meaning that it can be a way to buy influence if it isn't monitored.

Argument opposed

Many of the people making a donation of $200 or more aren’t doing it to buy influence — they want to preserve history. It seems unfair to treat a $200 donation the same as a $200,000 donation.

Impact

Organizations that fundraise for presidential libraries and the people and entities that donate to them, presidential reputations, and the National Archives.

Cost of H.R. 1063

The CBO estimates that implementing this legislation would cost about $1 million over the 2016-2020 period.

Additional Info

Of Note: Rep. Elijah Cummings reintroduced this bill from the 115th Congress to to require presidential libraries to disclose their donor information and therefore bring conflicts of interest to light. When previous sponsor Rep. John Duncan (R-TN) introduced this bill in the 113th Congress in 2013, he said:

“Presidential library fundraising organizations are formed while a president is in office and collect donations from individuals, corporations and foreign governments with no limit on the contribution amount. When there is no requirement for disclosing the donor or the amounts being donated, there is great potential for abuse... This is not a partisan issue. I introduced and have supported this legislation under both Democratic and Republican presidents."

After this bill passed the House last Congress, Rep. Duncan added: 

"The public should be made aware of possible conflicts of interest that sitting presidents can have or may have while raising funds for their libraries. We do not know who these donors to the presidential libraries are or what interests they may have on any pending policy decisions that are to be made."

The Sunlight Foundation, which supports this bill, argues that presidential libraries are currently the "Wild West" of political fundraising:

"Firstly, donor names should be required to be disclosed. Relying on voluntary disclosures means that the rules are flexible and there are no consequences for omission. The public has a need to know this kind of information. Second, donor names should be online in a machine-readable format. Making paper copies available at a distant library at 10 cents a page is a laughable form of transparency. We easily should be able to take the donor names and compare them against lists of pardon-seekers, lobbyists, and campaign-donors. Finally, donor names should be disclosed in a timely fashion. George W. Bush has been out of office for five years, and the corruption-deterring value has attenuated with time’s passage. Being able to see whether there’s a relationship between donation and presidential action is invaluable. While we would prefer even more frequent reporting, [this] bill’s requirement of quarterly reporting is a huge step forward. Presidential libraries are the wild west of presidential fundraising. It takes place when presidents are the least accountable and involves tremendous amounts of secret money. Now’s the time to fix this loophole."

Issue One adds that this bill brings much-needed transparency to the presidential library donation process, ensuring that the public knows whether these institutions are being used for influence peddling:

"[This] legislation would bring much-needed transparency to the process of funding these repositories of important parts of our national history. The public deserves to know if these institutions are turning into pathways for favors and influence peddling."

Donations to presidential libraries have been under scrutiny since the Clinton administration. In 2000 it was discovered that Denise Rich donated $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library prior to President Clinton pardoning Ms. Rich’s husband who was wanted on 51 counts of tax and mail fraud, racketeering, and illegally violating a trade embargo with Iran.

During the George W. Bush administration, a former lobbyist suggested that a foreign politician should make a $250,000 donation to the Bush library in order to secure meetings with senior members of the administration. Currently, the Obama Foundation — which raises money for President Obama’s presidential library — only provides ranges for the amounts of donations it has received.

This bill has one cosponsor in the current Congress, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). Last Congress, Rep. John Duncan (R-TN) introduced this bill with one cosponsor, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and secured its passage in the House by voice vote. This bill has historically had the support of the Sunlight Foundation, Demand Progress, the Center for Responsive Politics, and others.


In-Depth: This legislation has a long — if unsuccessful — history in Congress. Previous versions passed the House in 2002, 2007 (when it was blocked in the Senate), and 2009. It was introduced in the House in 2013, where it survived committee but did not see a floor vote, and it was introduced in the Senate in 2014 only to meet a similar fate.

Under current law, presidential libraries are built with private funds, then turned over to the National Archives to administer with a mix of public and private money. The private money can be raised in any amount, from any source, including foreign governments and people or companies seeking government favors. Since there aren't any disclosure requirements, donors' identities remain secret. However, since sitting presidents can begin fundraising for their libraries long before leaving office, this presents a major opportunity for corruption.


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Flickr user FDR Presidential Library & Museum)