[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  S. 349, THE LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT

                                 ______


                           HON. KWEISI MFUME

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 24, 1994

  Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I rise reluctantly in opposition to this bill 
in its present form. While I support the thrust behind this legislation 
and I agree that the people of the United States deserve to know who is 
talking to their elected representatives and on which issues, there is 
an element of this bill which will result in a severe hardship to many, 
if not most, of the nonprofit groups operating in the United States 
today.
  Currently all nonprofit groups, from the Heritage Foundation to the 
National Organization for the Advancement of Colored People, must fill 
out extensive disclosure forms and submit them to the Internal Revenue 
Service. Under the bill we are currently considering, these same groups 
would be required to fill additional extensive disclosure forms if they 
have any contact with Members of Congress.
  In order to comply simultaneously with the regulations of this bill 
and the existing IRS rules on lobbying disclosure, all employees of 
charitable organizations will be forced to keep at least two separate 
sets of time records, using different rules and regulations for each. 
The result will be that many of these organizations will be forced to 
spend additional money on administration; others have indicated to me 
that they will simply stop contacting us altogether.
  Is that the aim of this bill? Is the intent of this bill to stop 
nonprofit organizations from contacting us, and to limit us almost 
entirely to hearing from the people who are paid, many of them very 
well, to promote a money-making cause? I think not.
  The nonprofit groups that I have spoken with have indicated a 
willingness, indeed an eagerness, to fully and completely disclose 
their lobbying activities. In fact, they already do that, much more so 
than lobbyists representing for-profit organizations, through the 
disclosure forms they file with the IRS.
  What the nonprofit groups are asking for, quite simply, is the 
ability to use the definitions and forms that they already use to 
disclose their activities to the IRS to comply with the intent of this 
bill.
  Mr. Speaker, colleagues, I rise, albeit unenthusiastically, in 
opposition to this bill. As I said earlier, while I support the concept 
of this legislation, which I believe should give the American public 
additional confidence in their elected representatives, I cannot 
support this bill.
  I hope that my colleagues will agree with me that we should send this 
bill back to committee so that we can rework this important aspect of 
this legislation.

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