[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 6, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S1598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN:
  S. 1591. A bill to prohibit campaign expenditures for services of 
lobbyists, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration.


                   CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES LEGISLATION

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, recently the Congress was 
successful in passing legislation that would ban gifts from Members and 
staff and put a wall between lobbyists who seek to curry special favor 
by the giving of gifts. Unfortunately, recent news articles have 
exposed a loophole that some have sought to exploit. Specifically, some 
lobbyists have served as fundraisers for Members of Congress and sought 
to increase their influence by means of coordinating campaign 
contributions
  Mr. President, this practice must stop. Registered lobbyists who work 
for campaigns as fundraisers clearly represent a conflict of interest. 
When a campaign employs an individual who also lobbies that Member, the 
perception of undue and unfair influence is raised. This legislation 
would stop such practices.
  This bill would ban a candidate or a candidate's authorized committee 
from paying registered lobbyists. Additionally, the bill would mandate 
that any contributions made by a registered lobbyist be reported by 
such individual when he or she files his or her lobbying disclosure 
report as mandated by the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
  Mr. President, this bill is not aimed at any individual, but instead 
at a practice that has come to light. It is also not meant in any way 
to impugn anyone's integrity or good name. But it does seek to end a 
practice that is giving the Congress as a whole a bad name.
  These two small changes in law represent a substantial effort to 
close any loopholes that exist in our lobbying and gift laws. The 
Congress has begun to make great strides to restore the public's 
confidence in this institution. We must continue that good work.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1591

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. AMENDMENT OF FECA.

       (a) In General.--Section 315 of the Federal Election 
     Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following new subsection:
       ``(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a 
     candidate and the candidate's authorized committees shall not 
     make disbursements for any services rendered by, any 
     individual if such individual, was required to register as a 
     lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
     1601 et seq.).''.
       (b) Reporting.--Section 304(b) of the Federal Election 
     Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' after the 
     semicolon;
       (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(9) for an authorized committee, an identification, 
     including the name and address, of any lobbyist (as that term 
     is defined in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
     1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602)) who provided services to the authorized 
     committee, regardless of whether disbursements were made for 
     such services.''.

     SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995.

       Section 5(b) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 
     U.S.C. 1604(b)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' after the 
     semicolon;
       (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(5) the amount and date of each contribution by the 
     registrant to a candidate, or an authorized committee (as 
     that term is defined in section 301 of the Federal Election 
     Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431)) of a candidate, for the 
     office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or 
     Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.''.
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