[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2339 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2339

  To create a Lobbying Disclosure Act Task Force, and to make certain 
         modifications to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2011

Mr. Quigley (for himself and Mr. Polis) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To create a Lobbying Disclosure Act Task Force, and to make certain 
         modifications to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.

    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 ``Lobbyist Disclosure Enhancement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Lobbying Disclosure Act Task Force.--
            (1) Establishment.--The Attorney General shall establish 
        the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforcement Task Force (in this 
        subsection referred to as the ``Task Force'').
            (2) Functions.--The Task Force--
                    (A) shall have primary responsibility for 
                investigating and prosecuting each case referred to the 
                Attorney General under section 6(a)(8) of the Lobbying 
                Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(8));
                    (B) shall collect and disseminate information with 
                respect to the enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure 
                Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
                    (C) shall audit, at a minimum on an annual basis, 
                and as frequently as deemed necessary by the Task 
                Force, the extent of compliance or noncompliance with 
                the requirements of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 
                by lobbyists, lobbying firms, and registrants under 
                that Act through a random sampling of lobbying 
                registrations and reports filed under that Act during 
                each calendar year; and
                    (D) shall establish, publicize, and operate a toll-
                free telephone number to serve as a hotline for members 
                of the public to report noncompliance with lobbyist 
                disclosure requirements under the Lobbying Disclosure 
                Act of 1995, and shall develop a mechanism to allow 
                members of the public to report such noncompliance 
                online.
    (b) Referral of Cases to the Attorney General.--Section 6(a) of the 
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ``United States Attorney 
        for the District of Columbia'' and inserting ``Attorney 
        General''; and
            (2) in paragraph (11), by striking ``United States Attorney 
        for the District of Columbia'' and inserting ``Attorney 
        General''.
    (c) Recommendations for Improved Enforcement.--The Attorney General 
may make recommendations to Congress with respect to--
            (1) the enforcement of and compliance with the Lobbying 
        Disclosure Act of 1995; and
            (2) the need for resources available for the enhanced 
        enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.
    (d) Information in Enforcement Reports.--Section 6(b)(1) of the 
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(b)(1)) is amended by 
striking ``by case'' and all that follows through ``public record'' and 
inserting ``by case and name of the individual lobbyists or lobbying 
firms involved, any sentences imposed''.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF LOBBYIST.

    Section 3(10) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1602(10)) is amended by striking ``, other than an individual'' and all 
that follows through ``period''.

SEC. 4. EXPEDITED ONLINE REGISTRATION OF LOBBYISTS; EXPANSION OF 
              REGISTRANTS.

    Section 4(a)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1603(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``45 days'' and inserting ``5 days'';
            (2) by striking ``, or on the first business day after such 
        45th day if such 45th day is not a business day,'' and 
        inserting ``, or on the first business day occurring after such 
        5th day if such 5th day does not occur on a business day,''; 
        and
            (3) by inserting ``online'' after ``shall register''.

SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BY LOBBYISTS.

    Section 5(b)(2)(A) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1604(b)(2)(A)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(A)'' and inserting ``(A)(i)'';
            (2) by adding ``and'' after the semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(ii) for each issue listed under clause (i), a 
                list identifying--
                            ``(I) each covered executive branch 
                        official with whom the lobbyist engaged in 
                        lobbying activities;
                            ``(II) each covered legislative branch 
                        official with whom the lobbyist engaged in 
                        lobbying activities and--
                                    ``(aa) if the official is an 
                                employee of a Member of Congress, the 
                                name of that Member of Congress; or
                                    ``(bb) if the official is an 
                                employee described in clause (ii), 
                                (iii), (iv), or (v) of section 3(4), 
                                the name of the Member or Members of 
                                Congress who hired the official or for 
                                whom the official performs duties as 
                                such official; and
                            ``(III) the date of each lobbying 
                        contact;''.

SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.

    Section 5(d)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1604(d)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
        ``30 days after'' and all that follows through ``30th day is 
        not'' and inserting ``20 days after the end of the quarterly 
        period beginning on the first day of January, April, July, and 
        October of each year, or on the first business day after such 
        20th day if such 20th day is not''; and
            (2) by striking ``semiannual period'' each place it appears 
        and inserting ``quarterly period''.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) Section 2.--Section 2 and the amendments made by that section 
take effect upon the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Amendments.--The amendments made by sections 3, 4, 5, and 6 
take effect on the first day of the first quarterly period described in 
section 5(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(a)) 
that begins after the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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