[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 64 (Thursday, April 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S5324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S5324]]
                        LOBBYING AND GIFT REFORM

  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, there has been a lot of talk on the House 
side this week about the bills they have passed as a part of their so-
called Contract With America. I have my own views about many of those 
bills.
  But today, I would like to talk about what was not included in the 
so-called contract. The contract does not include campaign finance 
reform legislation, it does not include lobbying disclosure 
legislation, and it does not include gift reform legislation. So, on 
the three biggest political reform issues facing the Congress today, 
the Contract With America is silent. The House of Representatives has 
been silent. We in the Senate have also been silent. We have done 
nothing to address these fundamental problems with the way business is 
done in Washington today.
  We tried to bring these issues up in January, but we were told that 
that the new Republican leadership wanted some time, wanted a chance to 
govern. Action would come in a few months, we were told.
  Well, we have waited more than 3 months, and there is no sign of any 
serious effort to enact lobbying and gift reform. No hearings have been 
scheduled, there have been no mark-ups, and no effort has been made to 
bring a bill to the Senate floor.
  If anything, it appears that we have been moving in the wrong 
direction on political reform. Special interest seems to be more 
influential than ever. Every week, we read new stories about how 
special interest lobbyists have written bills, and have been invited 
into committee rooms to brief congressional staff about what those 
bills would do.
  Reform of the Federal lobbying laws and of the congressional gift 
rules is too important to wait any longer. This should not be hard. My 
lobbying reform and gift reform bills each received 95 votes in the 
Senate in the last Congress.
  It was only when the conference report got caught up in a last-minute 
filibuster that we were unable to finally pass lobbying registration 
reform and gift reform.
  Our existing lobbying registration laws have been characterized by 
the Department of Justice as ineffective, inadequate, and 
unenforceable; they breed disrespect for the law because they are so 
widely ignored; they have been a sham and a shambles since they were 
first enacted almost 50 years ago. At a time when the American public 
is increasingly skeptical that their government really belongs to them, 
our lobbying registration laws have become a joke, leaving more 
professional lobbyists unregistered than registered.
  My lobbying reform bill would ensure that we finally know who is 
paying how much to whom, to lobby what Federal agencies and 
congressional committees on what issues. This bill would close the 
loopholes in existing lobbying registration laws. It would cover all 
professional lobbyists, whether they are lawyers or non-lawyers, in-
house or independent, whether they lobby Congress or the executive 
branch, and whether their clients are for-profit or non-profit. It 
would streamline reporting requirements and eliminate unnecessary 
paperwork. And it would provide, for the first time, effective 
administration and enforcement of disclosure requirements by an 
independent office.
  The congressional gift rules are also fundamentally flawed. These 
rules currently permit Members and staff to accept unlimited meals from 
lobbyists or anybody else. They permit the acceptance of football 
tickets, baseball tickets, opera tickets, and theater tickets. They 
permit Members and staff to travel to predominantly recreational 
events, such as charitable golf and tennis tournaments, which are paid 
for by special interest groups. To the public, these rules reinforce an 
image of a Congress more closely tied to the special interests than to 
the public interest. That is not good for the Congress and it is not 
good for the country.
  Our bill would address this problem as well. Under our bill, 
lobbyists would be prohibited from providing meals, entertainment, 
travel, or virtually anything else of value to Members of Congress and 
congressional staff. Acceptance of gifts from others would also be 
restricted significantly. To give just one example, my bill would 
prohibit private interests from paying for recreational expenses, such 
as greens fees, for Members of Congress, whether in Washington or in 
the course of travel outside Washington. In fact, private interests 
would be prohibited from paying for congressional travel to any event, 
the activities of which are substantially recreational in nature. If my 
bill passes, recreational activities paid for by interest groups will 
be a thing of the past.
  The enactment of our bill would fundamentally change the way business 
is conducted on Capitol Hill. It would get rid of the gifts, and it 
would bring lobbying out in the open. If we are serious about changing 
the way government works, we will enact this legislation, and do it 
soon.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coats). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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