WASHINGTON -- As the U.S. government has ramped up its surveillance programs in the years since 9/11, telecommunications companies have spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress to ensure legislation is molded to their liking.
From 2002 through 2012, officials and organizations associated with the three largest U.S. telecom companies -- Verizon, AT&T and Sprint -- spent a combined $52.7 million on campaign contributions, according to a review of records compiled by the open government group Center for Responsive Politics. Of that total, $29.3 million were donations to federal candidates from political action committees tied to the companies, a more direct form of political influence peddling.
The federal lobbying expenditures by these three telecom giants were even more extensive. During that same 10-year period, Verizon filed 114 separate lobbying forms that listed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act-related legislation as a topic of interest. The total cost of those filings was more than $22 million. AT&T filed 171 such forms at a cost of more than $29.5 million, and Sprint filed 26 forms at a cost of $2,539,000.