[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 138 (Wednesday, September 28, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                THE BRYANT BILL, A GRASS-ROOTS GAG RULE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Gingrich] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, I am going to speak today on the Bryant 
bill, a grassroots gag rule. I want to alert my colleagues that they 
should have in their office right now a letter to Members of Congress 
from the Christian Coalition entitled ``Stop the gag rule on free 
speech, vote no on the lobbying disclosure conference report.'' I urge 
every Member to read that, because I do not think that Members realize 
that buried in this so-called lobbying bill is a deliberate grassroots 
gag rule designed to kill precisely the pressure from back home that 
has been so effective in this Congress.
  Let us be honest, Mr. Speaker, liberals hate grassroots voter 
pressure. It was voter pressure in support of home schooling that 
forced the liberals to pull out a provision that would have killed home 
schooling. It is the grassroots pressure of the right-to-life movement 
that has sustained a fight that liberals would have crushed years ago. 
It is the grassroots pressure of people who believe in the second 
amendment which has stopped the efforts by liberals to strip Americans 
of the right to bear arms. It has been the opposition to the Clinton 
tax increase by the grassroots which reduced it to a one-vote margin 
when the entire power structure of Washington was going to raise taxes 
on the American people.
  Again and again, Mr. Speaker, whether it is school prayer, opposition 
to prohomosexual education in first grade, or a range of issues which 
are not politically correct here in Washington, it has been the 
grassroots who have risen up. The crowning blow to liberals was the 
grassroots opposition to the Clinton health plan which stopped in its 
tracks an effort to create a big government, big bureaucracy, big tax 
health plan.
  Now what do we have? We have in the Bryant conference report an 
effort to strangle grassroots efforts. I urge every Member, get a copy 
of this report and look at the specifics I am going to give you today, 
so you understand, this is not some scare story. This is a danger of 
the Clinton administration getting even. This is the Clinton revenge 
bill, to get even with the grassroots activists.
  This is what they say. This is in the bill, page 5:

       Grass Roots Lobbying Communications--the term ``inside 
     grass roots lobbying communications'' means--
       (A) any communication that attempts to influence a matter 
     described in * * *

  In these various clauses ``through an attempt to affect the opinions 
of the general public. * * *'' This is not lobbying the Congress, but 
informing the general public.

       (B) any communication between an organization and any bona 
     fide member of such organization to directly encourage such 
     member to make a communication to a covered executive branch 
     official or a covered legislative branch official with regard 
     to * * *.

  Any matter described here; again, not lobbying the Congress, but if 
you belong to a group and you try to talk to your own group, this is 
now going to be described by the Bryant gag rule as something 
inappropriate.

       (C) any communication between an organization and any bona 
     fide member of such organization to directly encourage such 
     member to urge persons other than members to communicate * * 
     *.
  In other words, if you are anywhere in America and you decide you 
want to lobby Congress up to 10 percent of the time you are paid for, 
and you spend over $2,500, which is one round trip from Los Angeles and 
hotel spending, one trip. From that point on under these rules you are 
going to be subject to the registration act, and you are going to have 
to report to the Director of Registration.
  Who is the Director of Registration going to be? For 5 years, longer 
than a Presidential term, it is going to be somebody appointed by Bill 
Clinton. Let us say Roberta Achtenberg, for example, is appointed, a 
vehemently, in the case of Elders, anti-Catholic person.
  Now we have a question: Is a papal message on school prayer political 
or is it religious? Is a papal message on homosexuality political or is 
it religious? Is a papal message on right-to-life political or is it 
religious?
  Mr. Speaker, I happen to be Baptist, but I would say that those 
people who are worried about Joycelyn Elders' anti-Catholicism ought to 
ask, what would that kind of person do in the Director's office? By the 
way, the Director can assess a fine of up to $200,000.
  Now, you are a local grassroots organization out here. Let us say you 
are an antitax organization. Yes, you do the horrible thing of actually 
seeing your Member of Congress, lobbying. You actually pay one member 
to do this part time, and they spend 10 percent of their time seeing 
the Illinois delegation. They are now subject to filing every report as 
directed by Bill Clinton's appointee. If they do not, they can be 
fined, I believe, $10,000 per occasion. This is madness.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues, read pages 5, 6, and 7 of this 
particular proposed bill, the Bryant gag rule. Let me just close and 
say that I hope this does not come up tomorrow. I hope we have several 
days to look at this. I am convinced it will die in the Senate. I think 
it ought to die in the U.S. House.

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