[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2417 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2417

    To provide greater controls and restrictions on revolving door 
                               lobbying.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 3, 2014

Mr. Bennet (for himself and Mr. Tester) 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 
2014''.

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 heading, 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 adding 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 2015.''.

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. 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. 7. 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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