II 109th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2179 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 18, 2006 Mr. Obama introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To require openness in conference committee deliberations and full disclosure of the contents of conference reports and all other legislation.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Curtailing Lobbyist Effectiveness Through Advance Notification, Updates, and Posting Act or the CLEAN UP Act.

2.

Conference committee disclosure requirements

(a)

Clear identification of new material in conference reports

Rule XXVIII of the Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at the end the following: 7. The joint explanatory statement by a committee of conference shall separately identify and explain each provision of the report in violation of paragraph 2 or 3 of rule XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate and, if possible, identify the Member who proposed such provision. . (b)

Sense of Congress on conference committee protocols

It is the sense of Congress that— (1)conference committees should hold regular, formal meetings of all conferees that are open to the public or televised; (2)all conferees should be given adequate notice of the time and place of all such meetings; and (3)all conferees should be afforded an opportunity to participate in full and complete debates of the matters that such conference committees may recommend to their respective Houses.

3.

Actual voting required in conference committee meetings and opportunity for minority views

Rule XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at the end the following: 8. It shall not be in order to consider a conference report unless the senior manager from the majority party on the part of the Senate as so designated for that purpose by the majority leader and the senior manager from the minority party on the part of the Senate as so designated for that purpose by the minority leader include in the statement of managers accompanying such conference report a signed statement that— (1)all Senate managers have been afforded an opportunity at a meeting of the committee on conference to vote on all amendments and other propositions considered by that committee; (2)roll call votes have been held in public meetings of the conferees on the matter contained in any motion to instruct conferees passed by the Senate; and (3)the minority was offered an opportunity to submit dissenting or minority views for the joint statement of managers. .

4.

Availability of legislation on the internet

Rule XIV of all the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at the end the following: 11.(a) The reading in full of any bill, resolution, conference report, or amendment shall not be dispensed with unless such measure is available to all Members and made available to the general public by means of the Internet for at least 72 hours before its consideration. (b)This paragraph may only be waived by 2/3 of Members, duly chosen and sworn. .

5.

Earmarks

Rule XVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at the end the following: 8.(a)In this paragraph, the term earmark means a provision that requires or permits the obligation or expenditure of any amount appropriated for the benefit of an identifiable person, program, project, entity, or jurisdiction by earmarking or other specification, whether by name or description, in a manner that— (1)discriminates against other persons, programs, projects, entities, or jurisdictions similarly situated that would be eligible, but for the requirement or permission, for the amount appropriated; or (2)applies only to a single identifiable person, program, project, entity, or jurisdiction, unless the identifiable person, program, project, entity, or jurisdiction is described or otherwise clearly identified in a law or Treaty stipulation (or an Act or resolution previously passed by the Senate during the same session or in the estimate submitted in accordance with law). (b)No appropriation bill shall be considered unless a list of all earmarks in such bill and accompanying reports are available to all Members and made available to the general public by means of the Internet for at least 72 hours before its consideration. (c)This paragraph may only be waived by 2/3 of Members, duly chosen and sworn. .