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Letter to the FEC Concerning United Seniors Association Issue Ads

August 12, 2002

Lawrence H. Norton
General Counsel
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20463

Dear Mr. Norton:

I am writing to urge the Federal Election Commission to begin an investigation into the activities of United Seniors Association (USA), a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that appears to be running electioneering ads that may be coordinated with the Republican National Committee in the states and congressional districts of vulnerable members of Congress.

On August 8, 2002 The Washington Post reported that USA is running a new radio ad in Minnesota targeting Sen. Paul Wellstone (p. A4). The ad urges listeners to "Ask Senator Wellstone to take the lead in getting Majority Leader Tom Daschle to pass immediate and permanent tax cuts for Minnesota families now." As you know, Sen. Wellstone has been rated one of this year’s most vulnerable incumbents by many political observers. Virtually the same ad is running in two other states targeting similarly vulnerable incumbents: Sens. Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).

As you know, no such issue is on the Senate’s legislative agenda. Moreover, USA is running no ads in South Dakota that directly urge Senate Majority Leader Daschle to take up the issue of making the $1.3 trillion tax cut permanent. In reality the ads appear to be thinly veiled attempts to influence the outcome of the three high-profile Senate races.

The media firm that developed the ads, Creative Media Partners, includes the Republican National Committee (RNC) as a client [www.creative-media.org/clients.html]. Also, Don Walter, founder of the media firm, was director of research and policy development at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Such a common vendor may compromise the independence of the USA ads, especially if Creative Media Partners has substantial input into the substance of the ads. And if USA is coordinating the ads with the RNC and/or the NRSC then corporate donations to the seniors group would be prohibited in-kind contributions.

If true, and if USA is using prohibited contributions from corporations, then such electioneering ads violate restrictions on corporate treasury funds being used to influence the outcome of elections [2 U.S.C. § 441b] and USA may have failed to register as a political committee [2 U.S.C. § 433]. In addition, the recipient committees may have violated Section 441b by accepting these contributions.

A recent Public Citizen study entitled United Seniors Association: Hired Guns for PhRMA and Other Corporate Interests documents why we believe USA is serving as a hired gun employed by corporate interests to influence the outcome of many of this year’s closest federal races. Our chief findings included the following:

• USA’s largest issue ad war is a $9.6 million campaign focusing on Medicare prescription drug issues. The latest wave is a $2 million ad buy that began in early July 2002 and thanks 29 representatives for supporting the House GOP prescription drug bill. Many of these ads ran in the districts of vulnerable incumbents who were already aligned with the USA and the drug industry’s position on prescription drug legislation.

• The brand name drug companies’ trade association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), has admitted to funding much, if not all, of the $4.6 million ad-buy in May and June through an "unrestricted educational grant." PhRMA and USA would neither confirm nor deny that the industry paid for the entire $9.6 million. But the similar messages contained in the ads and significant overlap in the districts where they ran means it is quite likely that PhRMA’s funding and strategy is behind them all.

• Prior to 2001, there is no evidence that USA ever ran broadcast "issue" ads. In fact, the $9.6 million USA has spent on drug ads alone in the last 12 months exceeds USA’s entire budget in 2000, the last year for which financial information is available. Such a huge influx of cash is highly unlikely to have come from its membership, but instead has probably come from drug companies and other industries seeking to effect the balance of power in Congress.

The fact that USA appeared to be a corporate conduit for PhRMA concerns us in that they may be doing the same with these tax ads, which may be funded by PhRMA or by other corporate interests that have an electoral agenda.

Because this appears to be a calculated and coordinated attempt to influence the outcome of this November’s election on behalf of corporate sponsors, we strongly urge the FEC to quickly open an investigation.

Pursuant to 28 USC Section 1746, I declare under the penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Sincerely,

Frank Clemente
Director, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch

cc: Steve Hershkowitz, FEC assistant general counsel

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