[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 189 (Wednesday, November 29, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2260-E2261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN SUPPORT OF STRONG LOBBYING LEGISLATION

                                 ______


                     HON. MICHAEL PATRICK FLANAGAN

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 29, 1995

  Mr. FLANAGAN. Mr. Speaker, today is a historic day. Finally, after 
almost a half century, the House passed and sent to the President a 
strong lobbying disclosure bill that will 

[[Page E 2261]]
serve to close the various loopholes in current lobbying law and make 
the rules mean what they are supposed to mean.
  Because it was necessary to send to the President a clean bill--any 
amendment adopted to H.R. 2564 would have ultimately served to kill 
lobbying reform in Congress for yet another year--Members of Congress 
were forced to withdraw and vote down a number of well-intended and 
worthy amendments.
  Sadly, one of those withdrawn amendments was offered by the gentleman 
from Michigan [Mr. Dingell]. Mr. Dingell's amendment would have made a 
step in the right direction in stifling the atrocious lobbying 
procedure associated with so-called astroturf lobbying in which 
lobbying firms falsely use a person's name in a telegram or letter in 
an effort to influence a Member of Congress on pending legislation.
  In August, during consideration of H.R. 1555, the Communications Act 
of 1995, my office received thousands of these computer-generated form 
telegrams. They were supposedly from my constituents outraged over the 
telecommunications deregulation and reform legislation. But after my 
staff and I contacted over 200 of those whose names and addresses that 
appeared on the telegrams, our results revealed that only a tiny 
fraction of ``senders''--I am talking about only a handful--even knew 
their names has been used in this way, and one gentleman had long been 
deceased.
  Mr. Dingell's amendment to establish a penalty of a fine or up to 1 
year imprisonment for lobbying firms who falsely uses a person's name 
in a computerized telegram or postcard is a necessary step in ending 
these despicable lobbying techniques. I urge all my colleagues to 
support it when introduced as free-standing legislation.
  While I strongly support Mr. Dingell's language, I also believe it is 
important for Congress to enact legislation that would require full 
disclosure of expenditures on this so-called astroturf lobbying. 
Neither H.R. 2564 nor the Dingell amendment requires disclosure of 
expenditures on astroturf lobbying. I believe this important 
information should be included in the registration and reports filed by 
lobbyists or organizations that lobby. This could be accomplished 
through separate legislation which I hope will be introduced this year.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Mr. Dingell for offering his 
amendment today and for withdrawing it. I hope we can get together and 
put our minds to work and introduce a strong lobbying reform bill this 
year. Mr. Canady, chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution of 
the full Committee of the Judiciary and lead sponsor of H.R. 2564, is 
also committed to working on another lobbying bill. With a year left in 
the 104th Congress, I believe this will be achieved.

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