OCTOBER TERM, 1975
Opinion of WHITE, J.
424 U. S.
records and file reports concerning all contributions and
expenditures received and made by political committees
for the purposes of influencing the election of candidates
for federal office. The Court noted the conclusion of
Congress that public disclosure of contributions would
tend to prevent the corrupt use of money to influence
elections; this, together with the requirement "that the
treasurer's statement shall include full particulars in
respect of expenditures," made it "plain that the statute
as a whole is calculated to discourage the making and
use of contributions for purposes of corruption." 290
U. S., at 548. Congress clearly had the power to further
as it did that fundamental goal:
"The power of Congress to protect the election
of President and Vice President from corruption
being clear, the choice of means to that end presents
a question primarily addressed to the judgment of
Congress. If it can be seen that the means adopted
are really calculated to attain the end, the degree of
their necessity, the extent to which they conduce to
the end, the closeness of the relationship between
the means adopted and the end to be attained, are
matters for congressional determination alone." Id.,
at 547-548.
Pursuant to this undoubted power of Congress to vindicate the strong public interest in controlling corruption
and other undesirable uses of money in connection with
election campaigns, the Federal Election Campaign Act
substantially broadened the reporting and disclosure requirements that so long have been a part of the federal
law. Congress also concluded that limitations on contributions and expenditures were essential if the aims of
the Act were to be achieved fully. In another major
innovation, aimed at insulating candidates from the timeconsuming and entangling task of raising huge sums of
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