[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3272 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3272

    To provide greater controls and restrictions on revolving door 
                               lobbying.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 28, 2010

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide greater controls and restrictions on revolving door 
                               lobbying.

    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 ``Close the Revolving Door Act of 
2010''.

SEC. 2. LIFETIME BAN ON MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM LOBBYING.

    (a) In General.--Section 207(e)(1) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) Members of congress.--Any person who is a Senator, a 
        Member of the House of Representatives or an elected officer of 
        the Senate or the House of Representatives and who after that 
        person leaves office, knowingly makes, with the intent to 
        influence, any communication to or appearance before any 
        Member, officer, or employee of either House of Congress or any 
        employee of any other legislative office of the Congress, on 
        behalf of any other person (except the United States) in 
        connection with any matter on which such former Senator, 
        Member, or elected official seeks action by a Member, officer, 
        or employee of either House of Congress, in his or her official 
        capacity, shall be punished as provided in section 216 of this 
        title.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 207(e)(2) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the caption, by striking ``Officers and staff'' and 
        inserting ``Staff''; and
            (2) by striking ``an elected officer of the Senate, or''.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL STAFF.

    Paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5)(A), and (6)(A) of section 207(e) of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking ``1 year'' and 
inserting ``6 years''.

SEC. 4. IMPROVED REPORTING OF LOBBYISTS ACTIVITIES.

    Section 6 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is 
amended by inserting at the end the following:
    ``(c) Joint Web Site.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Senate and the 
        Clerk of the House of Representatives shall maintain a joint 
        lobbyist disclosure Internet database for information required 
        to be publicly disclosed under this Act which shall be an 
        easily searchable Web site called lobbyists.gov with a stated 
        goal of simplicity of usage.
            ``(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection 
        $100,000 for fiscal year 2011.''.

SEC. 5. LOBBYIST REVOLVING DOOR TO CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--Any person who is a registered lobbyist or an 
agent of a foreign principal may not within 6 years after that person 
leaves such position be hired by a Member or committee of either House 
of Congress with whom the registered lobbyist or an agent of a foreign 
principal has had substantial lobbying contact.
    (b) Waiver.--This section may be waived in the Senate or the House 
of Representatives by the Committee on Ethics or the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct based on a compelling national need.
    (c) Substantial Lobbying Contact.--For purposes of this section, in 
determining whether a registered lobbyist or agent of a foreign 
principal has had substantial lobbying contact within the applicable 
period of time, the Member or committee of either House of Congress 
shall take into consideration whether the individual's lobbying 
contacts have pertained to pending legislative business, or related to 
solicitation of an earmark or other Federal funding, particularly if 
such contacts included the coordination of meetings with the Member or 
staff, involved presentations to staff, or participation in fundraising 
exceeding the mere giving of a personal contribution. Simple social 
contacts with the Member or committee of either House of Congress and 
staff, shall not by themselves constitute substantial lobbying 
contacts.

SEC. 6. PAYMENT FOR CHARTER FLIGHTS BY CAMPAIGN FUNDS AND DISCLOSURE OF 
              CERTAIN AIR TRAVEL WITH A LOBBYIST BY A SENATOR.

    (a) Clarification of Rules on Use of Campaign Funds for Flights on 
Commercial Aircraft.--
            (1) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 313(c) of the 
        Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 439a(c)) is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking ``a candidate for election for 
                Federal office (other than a candidate who is subject 
                to paragraph (2)), or any authorized committee of such 
                a candidate, may not make any expenditure for a flight 
                on an aircraft'' in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                (A) and inserting ``in the case of a candidate for 
                election to Federal office (other than a candidate who 
                is subject to paragraph (2)), no political committee 
                may make any expenditure for travel by such a 
                candidate, or for travel on behalf of such a candidate, 
                by means of a flight on an aircraft (regardless of 
                whether such travel is in connection with an election 
                for Federal office)'', and
                    (B) by striking ``candidate, the authorized 
                committee, or other'' in subparagraph (B).
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by this subsection 
        shall apply to flights taken on or after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
    (b) Disclosure.--Paragraph 2(e)(1) of rule XXXV of the Standing 
Rules of the Senate is amended--
            (1) in subclause (C), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) by inserting after subclause (D) the following:
            ``(E) the source will submit a list of the names of any 
        registered lobbyist or an agent of a foreign principal on the 
        trip not later than 30 days after the trip; and''.

SEC. 7. BAN ON LOBBYISTS MAKING CASH CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS.

    Section 321 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
441g) is amended by--
            (1) by striking ``No person'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), no 
person''; and
            (2) inserting at the end the following:
    ``(b) Lobbyist.--
            ``(1) Total ban.--If the person described in subsection (a) 
        is a lobbyist, the amount referred to in subsection (a) shall 
        be zero.
            ``(2) Lobbyist.--In this subsection, the term `lobbyist' 
        shall have the same meaning given such term in section 3(10) of 
        the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.''.

SEC. 8. REPORTING BY SUBSTANTIAL LOBBYING ENTITIES.

    The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 6 the following:

``SEC. 6A. REPORTING BY SUBSTANTIAL LOBBYING ENTITIES.

    ``(a) In General.--A substantial lobbying entity shall file on an 
annual basis with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the 
Secretary of the United States Senate a list of any employee, 
individual under contract, or individual who provides paid consulting 
services who is--
            ``(1) a former United States Senator or a former Member of 
        the United States House of Representatives; or
            ``(2) a former congressional staff person who--
                    ``(A) made at least $100,000 in any 1 year as a 
                congressional staff person;
                    ``(B) worked for a total of 4 years or more as a 
                congressional staff person; or
                    ``(C) had a job title at any time while employed as 
                a congressional staff person that contained any of the 
                following terms: `Chief of Staff', `Legislative 
                Director', `Staff Director', `Counsel', `Professional 
                Staff Member', `Communications Director', or `Press 
                Secretary'.
    ``(b) Contents of Filing.--The filing required by this section 
shall contain a brief job description of each such employee, individual 
under contract, or individual who provides paid consulting services, 
and an explanation of their work experience under subsection (a) that 
requires this filing.
    ``(c) Improved Reporting of Substantial Lobbying Entities.--The 
Joint Web site being maintained by the Secretary of the Senate and the 
Clerk of the House of Representatives, known as lobbyists.gov, shall 
include an easily searchable database entitled `Substantial Lobbying 
Entities' that includes qualifying employees, individuals under 
contract, or individuals who provide paid consulting services, under 
subsection (a).
    ``(d) Law Enforcement Oversight.--The Clerk of the House of 
Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall provide a copy of 
the filings of substantial lobbying entities to the District of 
Columbia United States Attorney, to allow the District of Columbia 
United States Attorney to determine whether any such entities are 
underreporting the Federal lobbying activities of its employees, 
individuals under contract, or individuals who provide paid consulting 
services.
    ``(e) Substantial Lobbying Entity.--In this section, the term 
`substantial lobbying entity' means an incorporated entity that employs 
more than 3 federally registered lobbyists during a filing period.''.

SEC. 9. ENHANCED PENALTIES.

    Section 7(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1606(a)) is amended by striking ``$200,000'' and inserting 
``$500,000''.
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