[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2177 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2177

To prohibit the payment of individuals to reserve a place in line for a 
 seat for a lobbyist at a congressional committee hearing or business 
                                meeting.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 17, 2007

Mrs. McCaskill introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the payment of individuals to reserve a place in line for a 
 seat for a lobbyist at a congressional committee hearing or business 
                                meeting.

    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 ``Get in Line Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON THE PAYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS TO RESERVE A PLACE IN 
              LINE FOR A LOBBYIST FOR A SEAT AT A CONGRESSIONAL 
              COMMITTEE HEARING OR BUSINESS MEETING.

    (a) Prohibition.--The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 27. PROHIBITION ON THE PAYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS TO RESERVE A PLACE 
              IN LINE FOR A LOBBYIST FOR A SEAT AT A CONGRESSIONAL 
              COMMITTEE HEARING OR BUSINESS MEETING.

    ``(a) Prohibition.--Any person described in subsection (b) shall 
not make a payment to an individual to reserve a place in line for a 
seat for that person at a congressional committee hearing or business 
meeting.
    ``(b) Persons Subject to Prohibition.--The persons subject to the 
prohibition under subsection (a) are any lobbyist that is registered or 
is required to register under section 4(a)(1), any organization that 
retains or employs 1 or more lobbyists and is registered or is required 
to register under section 4(a)(2), and any employee listed or required 
to be listed as a lobbyist by a registrant under section 4(b)(6) or 
5(b)(2)(C).''.
    (b) Certification.--Section 5(d)(1)(G) of the Lobbying Disclosure 
Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(d)(1)(G)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' after the semicolon;
            (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) has read and is familiar with 
                        section 27, relating to paying individuals to 
                        reserve seats at congressional committee 
                        hearings or business meetings, and has not 
                        violated that section.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. COMMITTEE HEARING AVAILABILITY.

    A committee of the Senate that is unable to accommodate all persons 
wishing to sit in the hearing room for a committee hearing or business 
meeting shall--
            (1) make all reasonable accommodations for such overflow, 
        including opening up an overflow room with a video monitor 
        showing the hearing or meeting if possible; and
            (2) stream the hearing or meeting on the committee website 
        to the extent practicable.
                                 <all>