[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2261 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2261

     To provide transparency and integrity in the earmark process.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 8, 2006

   Mr. Obama introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To provide transparency and integrity in the earmark process.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Transparency and Integrity in 
Earmarks Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. 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--
            ``(1) a list of all earmarks in such bill and the name of 
        the requestor and a short justification for each earmark 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;
            ``(2) all earmarks are contained in the text of the bill 
        and not incorporated by reference or directed in the committee 
        report; and
            ``(3) all earmarks are germane to the bill.
    ``(c) This paragraph may only be waived by \2/3\ of Members, duly 
chosen and sworn.''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON ADVOCATING FOR EARMARK IN WHICH THERE EXISTS A 
              FINANCIAL INTEREST.

    Rule XXXVII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``12. No Member of the Senate may advocate to include an earmark in 
any bill or joint resolution (or an accompanying report) or in any 
conference report on a bill or joint resolution (including an 
accompanying joint statement of managers thereto) if the Member has a 
financial interest in such earmark.''.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON BUYING VOTES.

    Rule XXXVII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``13. No Member of the Senate shall condition the inclusion of 
language to provide funding for an earmark in any bill or joint 
resolution (or an accompanying report thereof) or in any conference 
report on a bill or joint resolution (including an accompanying joint 
statement of managers thereto) on any vote cast by the Member of the 
Senate in whose State the project will be carried out.''.

SEC. 5. LOBBYING ON BEHALF OF RECIPIENTS OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

    The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 is amended by adding after 
section 5 the following:

``SEC. 5A. REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

    ``(a) In General.--A recipient of Federal funds shall file a report 
as required by section 5(a) containing--
            ``(1) the name of any lobbyist registered under this Act to 
        whom the recipient paid money to lobby on behalf of the Federal 
        funding received by the recipient; and
            ``(2) the amount of money paid as described in paragraph 
        (1).
    ``(b) Definition.--In this section, the term `recipient of Federal 
funds' means the recipient of Federal funds constituting an award, 
grant, or loan.''.
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