WASHINGTON, D.C. – One day after his hearing to examine the influence of undisclosed or so-called “dark money” in U.S. elections, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) took to the floor of the U.S. Senate this evening to sound the alarm on the increasing amount of dark money flowing into campaigns and to underscore the importance of expanding disclosure requirements for campaign contributions.

“When I first got into this subject last year, I thought it was bad. Well, what I’ve learned over the last several months is it’s a lot worse than I thought. It’s happening fast. It’s a tidal wave, and it’s going to engulf our system,” Senator King said. “Why do we care? Because it’s corrosive. Because it undermines the public confidence in us as their political leaders. …It’s wrong, and I think it’s something that we should attend to.”

He continued, “I think we should be able to find a bipartisan solution to this subject because it will benefit this whole country, and I think it will be of great benefit to the institution of the democracy itself. This is not what the Framers envisioned, and we have it within our power to do something about it and to improve the situation and to improve the flow of information, including the source of that information, to the people of America.”

To watch Senator King's remarks, click HERE. Please note the video may still be processing after this press release is issued but should be live shortly.

King's hearing, “Dollars and Sense: How Undisclosed Money and Post-McCutcheon Campaign Finance Will Affect the 2014 Election and Beyond,” was the first to focus on campaign finance since the Supreme Court decision, which abolished caps on an individual’s aggregate donations to all federal candidates, parties and some political committees. To watch video of Senator King’s hearing, click HERE.

The hearing also followed a report from the Wesleyan Media Project and the Center for Responsive Politics that revealed an estimated $43.1 million has already been spent on senatorial races this election cycle, representing a 45 percent increase compared to the same point in 2012. Even more startling, however, is that the report also revealed that nearly 60 percent of those ads were supported by undisclosed or “dark” money.

In April, King introduced the Real Time Transparency Act of 2014, which would require that all campaign contributions of $1000 or more be filed with the FEC within 48-hours.

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