To the Editor:

Your editorial "The Corporate Lobbying Proxy War" (April 28) correctly points out that the activists pushing for political disclosures from publicly held corporations are more interested in chilling speech than improving corporate governance and responsiveness to shareholders.

This is why we recently wrote to business leaders from around the country describing, as we saw them, the motivations and goals behind this antibusiness campaign. The activists' claims are, in fact, myths. We concluded:

"Ultimately, the disclosure effort is driven by activists and labor unions that are not acting in the best interest of investors or the overall business community, and who will not be satisfied with mere disclosure. These groups will not stop until business' ability to engage in political and policy advocacy is eliminated altogether."

Given the political animus driving this campaign and the potential great harm to shareholders, we believe the new SEC Chairman, Mary Jo White, should focus on the important work of protecting investors and facilitating capital formation, not getting bogged down by unpopular and nonessential pet agenda issues by certain activists.

John Engler

President

Business Roundtable

Thomas J. Donohue

President and CEO

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Jay Timmons

President and CEO

National Association of Manufacturers

Washington

A version of this article appeared May 2, 2013, on page A14 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Activists Want to Silence Business.