Advocacy and the Istook amendment: Efforts to restrict the civic speech of nonprofit organizations in the 104th congress

Abstract

Legislation considered during the 104th U.S. Congress (1995–96) would have placed new restrictions on the civic speech of charitable and nonprofit organizations. Most significant of these initiatives was the “Istook amendment”; which proposed limits on the use of non‐federal (private) funds for communication with the public and governmental bodies at the local, state and federal levels. This essay examines current regulations on speech activities ("lobbying") by nonprofit entities, traces the proposed extension of such restrictions in the Istook amendment through a new category of “political advocacy, “ and identifies significant First Amendment and discursive implications of this legislation for the exercise of civic speech. The essay concludes by arguing that proposed statutory bans such as the Istook amendment constitute a threat to democratic ideals that presume a diversity of voices, public debate, and representation of less powerful interests before the public and governmental bodies.