United States Chamber of Commerce
The United States Chamber of Commerce is a business association advocacy group and is the largest lobbying group in the United States. The group was founded in April 23, 1912, out of local chambers of commerce at the urging of President William Howard Taft and his secretary of commerce and labor Charles Nagel. President Taft's belief was that the "government needed to deal with a group that could speak with authority for the interests of business."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims to represent three million small business owners, but this claim is disputed because the organization is funded primarily by the largest corporations in the United States.
The current president and CEO of the Chamber is Suzanne Clark. She worked for the group from 1997 to 2007 and returned in 2014, holding multiple executive roles before being named its first female CEO in February 2021.
History
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was founded at a meeting of over 700 delegates at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 1912. Harry A. Wheeler was elected the organization's first president. Its first vice presidents were attorney and civic leader Joseph Nathan Teal, business tycoon and founder of the Coca-Cola Company Asa Griggs Candler, and business tycoon Arthur Briggs Farquhar. Its first treasurer was attorney and Civil War veteran John Joy Edson.An important catalyst for the creation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce were two prior business engagements between the U.S. and Japan. In 1908, Japanese business magnate Eiichi Shibusawa invited the first official, modern day U.S. business delegation to visit Japan. This delegation was led by the prominent banker/economist Frank A. Vanderlip accompanied by sixty business representatives from the West coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington. The goal was to bridge their nations diplomatically and to promote increased business and commerce.
In 1909, in appreciation for the hospitality shown to the 1908 Vanderlip business delegation during their visit to Japan, an invitation was now sent to Japanese business leaders to tour the U.S. This invitation came from the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific Coast, whose membership included eight principal cities from western coastal states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Their invitation was accepted by the Japanese, and in 1909, Shibusawa, accompanied by his delegation of over fifty of Japan's most prominent business leaders and notables spent three months visiting 53 cities across America.
Their travels were highlighted in many newspapers as they journeyed in a specially outfitted 'Million Dollar Train', provided by the American industrial community. The U.S. government recognized the significance of their visit, it and sent U.S. representatives to accompany and assist them during their trip. Six representatives of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific Coast also accompanied them in order to help facilitate the events along the way.
Their meetings included many chambers of commerce, tours of factories, power plants, fire departments, port facilities, mines, farms, schools, universities, libraries, theaters, churches, hospitals, and many other facilities. Their main goals to develop friendship and familiarity between the two nations while encouraging bilateral trade and commerce. An important influence of their visit was that it connected chambers of commerce across U.S., which likely motivated them to recognize the benefits of becoming a national organization. President Taft was one of the U.S. leaders that Shibusawa and his delegates met with during their visit.
The Chamber was created by President Taft as a counterbalance to the labor movement of the time. John H. Fahey was the first chairman, and Harry A. Wheeler was the first president and Elliot Hersey Goodwin was the first secretary. It opened its first office in the . In 1913, President Taft spoke at its first banquet at the Willard Hotel, where he called for the organization to lobby for comprehensive currency legislation and to support the Commission on Economy and Efficiency. During its first year in existence, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's membership consisted of 297 commercial organizations and 165,000 firms and individuals. The U.S. Chamber's staff grew drastically in just ten years of being created. In 1912, there were only four employees. However, by the time 1921 came along, the number of employees had risen to three hundred.
During the 1919 U.S. Chamber board meeting, Harry A. Wheeler proposed an idea that surprised many in the Chamber itself. The idea was to create a national headquarters. Wheeler stated during this proposal that the Board of Directors should take this vote very seriously in deciding whether or not to make a national headquarters due to having to pay for it with their own money. Nevertheless, the Board of Directors didn't hesitate with their answer and they began the process to create the headquarters. Wheeler and Edson already had a planned location for where they believed the headquarters should be. The location was facing the White House on the corner of Lafayette Square. The only thing that was stopping them from building were two 19th-century mansions: the Corcoran House and the Slidell house. Nevertheless, the mansions were purchased for $775,000.
The Washington, D.C., headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce occupies land that was formerly the home of Daniel Webster.
Promoting business
20th century
The Chamber's first referendum in January 1913 called for the planning of a National Budget. This calling for a National Budget created The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. From there, the Chamber worked to aid the U.S. Government during both World Wars and through the Great Depression. During the 1960s, the Chamber thought of the business community in a different way. They didn't have a World War to fight, however, a war against crime and poverty.During the oil crisis of 1973, the Chamber pushed for expanding domestic production. This entailed oil and gas exploration, as well as coal mining, and the Trans Alaska Pipeline. In 1981, the Chamber launched the Let's Rebuild America campaign to help support President Reagan's Economic Recovery and Tax Act. With increased globalization in the 1990s, the Chamber promoted expanding opportunities for the export of American goods and services in hopes of creating jobs for Americans.
Although various chambers of commerce can work with all levels of government, they tend to concentrate their efforts on specific levels: Local chambers of commerce tend to focus on local issues, state chambers on state issues, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce focuses on national issues at the federal government level.
In 1993, the Chamber lost several members over its support for Clinton's healthcare reform efforts. The Chamber had chosen to support healthcare reform at that time due to the spiraling healthcare costs experienced by its members. However, House Republicans retaliated by urging boycotts of the organization. By the time health care reform became a major issue again in 2010–2012, the organization opposed such efforts.
21st century
led the U.S. Chamber from 1997 to 2021. Though the Chamber claims to represent over 3 million American businesses, according to data, 94% of its income comes from about 1,500 big businesses.In late 2011 it was revealed that the Chamber's computer system was breached from November 2009 to May 2010 by Chinese hackers. The purpose of the breach appeared to be gain information related to the Chamber's lobbying regarding Asian trade policy.
Since a 1971 internal memo by Lewis Powell advocating a more active role in cases before the United States Supreme Court, the Chamber has found increasing success in litigation. Under the Burger and Rehnquist Courts the Chamber was on the prevailing side 43% and 56% of the time, respectively, but under the Roberts Court, the Chamber's success rate rose to 68% as of June 21, 2012.
In the 2008 election cycle, aggressive ads paid for by the USCC attacked a number of Democratic congressional candidates and supported a number of Republican candidates including John Sununu, Gordon Smith, Roger Wicker, Saxby Chambliss and Elizabeth Dole.
The Chamber of Commerce was an opponent of the Obama administration during Barack Obama's eight years in power.
During the 2010 campaign cycle, the Chamber spent $32 million, 93 percent of which was to help Republican candidates. The Chamber's spending out of its general funds was criticized as illegal under campaign finance laws. In a front-page article titled "Large Donations Aid U.S. Chamber in Election Drive", The New York Times reported that the Chamber used contributions in campaigns without separating foreign and domestic contributions, which if true would appear to contravene prohibitions on lobbying by foreign nations and groups. In question was the Chamber's international branches, "AmChams", whose funds are unaccounted for and perhaps mix into the general collection.
The Chamber has refused to provide any concrete evidence to refute the allegations. In reference to the matter, Tom Donohue wrote his council and members on October 12, 2010. He stated, "Let me be clear. The Chamber does not use any foreign money to fund voter education activities—period. We have strict financial controls in place to ensure this. The funds we receive from American Chambers of Commerce abroad, bilateral business councils, and non-U.S.-based global companies represent a small fraction of our more than $200 million annual revenues. Under our accounting system, these revenues are never used to support any political activities. We are in full compliance with all laws and regulations." The organizations Moveon.org, Think Progress, and People for the American Way rallied against the Chamber at the Justice Department to start an injunction for a criminal investigation. The Chamber is not required to produce fundraising records.
President Barack Obama asked the IRS and Federal Election Commission to ensure that the foreign funds that the Chamber receives are not used for political activities. Obama criticized the Chamber for not disclosing its contributors. The Chamber has responded that "No foreign money is used to fund political activities." After the election, the Chamber reiterated the nature of Obama's policy dictated action from the Chamber, however the conflict would not be made "personal".
Despite more than $33 million spent supporting candidates in the 2012 Congressional races, Chamber-backed candidates lost 36 out of the 50 elections in which the Chamber participated. In late 2013, the Chamber announced it would distribute campaign contributions in "tens" of Republican primary elections to oppose the Tea Party movement for the purpose of creating a "more governable Republican party." In early 2014 Tom Donohue clarified that the push would be to elect "pro-business" members of Congress "who favor trade, energy development and immigration reform". During Donohue's tenure as head of the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber formed an alliance with the Republican Party. Donohue retired in February 2021.
In recent years, as Republicans have backed more trade restrictions and anti-immigration policies and more Democrats have embraced immigration, free trade, and other pro-business policies, the composition of the Chamber's political support has shifted. In 2019, the Chamber updated the formula for its scorecard used to determine endorsements, to "more fully reward members of Congress for helping to advance pro-business policies, while simultaneously encouraging members to reach the compromises necessary for effective governing."
After Donald Trump refused to concede following the 2020 presidential election, and most Republican members of Congress supported attempts to overturn the election results based on false claims of fraud, the Chamber of Commerce released a memo to its members, stating it would "review the totality of actions of its members" and "take into consideration... future conduct that erodes our democratic institutions".
In 2021, Chamber lobbyist Neil Bradley said there would be a "political price" to pay for any lawmakers who supported the PRO Act, which the Chamber called a "litany of almost every failed idea from the past 30 years of labor policy."