[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15709-15710]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         URGING LOBBYING REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, today in the Washington Post, we found out 
that a key adviser to President Bush on the Intelligence Advisory 
Committee has been instrumental in helping China and the Chinese oil 
company put together their bid to purchase Unocal.
  The other day, the Center For Public Integrity disclosed that big 
drug companies spent $800 million in the last 7 years to influence the 
Congress, the Senate, and the legislation and the policies we have 
here; and then just last year we passed a pharmaceutical prescription 
drug bill that ended up producing or will produce $132 billion in 
additional profit for the pharmaceutical industry.
  The tobacco industry donated over the last few years $40 million to 
the Republican Party, and then they get a sweetheart deal by the 
Department of Justice for just pennies on the dollar when it came to 
settling a lawsuit. They settled for 8 percent of what they had 
originally gone in for, $10 million versus $130 million. USA Today 
points out that corporate donors have given more than $120 million to 
Republicans during the last election, and now they are receiving their 
reward. For some businesses, invest a little now and get a larger 
return later. That has been the motto.
  Just take energy prices. Big oil and big energy companies has been a 
major contributor to the majority party, the Republican Party. Oil is 
at $60 a barrel, approximately, and yet we talk about giving a $8 
billion taxpayer give-away so big oil can do what? Drill for oil. I 
thought that was their business plan. So what we are asking the 
American taxpayer to do is pay once at the pump and again on April 15. 
Why? Because big oil is a more influential player here in Washington.
  Special interests have attached themselves to Congress, and this 
parasitic relationship is having a corrosive effect on our Nation of 
and for the people. When the Speaker's gavel comes down, it is intended 
to open the People's House, not the auction house. And lately when we 
look at the tobacco industry, the energy industry, the pharmaceutical 
industry, those who lobby on behalf of major interests like Chinese oil 
companies, we can see something that is happening as it relates to the 
People's House.
  The relationship between lobbyists and lawmakers has become far too 
cozy and close. Professional lobbyists and the lobbyist profession have 
become a back office for Congress, serving as travel agents, employment 
agencies, and authors of legislation. In fact, in the past 6 years, 
lobbying expenditures have more than doubled to $3 billion annually. 
Yet while the number of professional lobbyists and their fees have 
increased, only one in five lobbyists actually register as required. Of 
the 250 top lobbying firms, 210 failed to file one or more of the 
necessary documents.
  The special interests have benefited from the weak reporting, 
nonexistent oversight and toothless penalties while the credibility of 
the United States Congress suffers. We have had a debate about campaign 
finance reform here in this Congress, a debate that ultimately put some 
distance between donors and candidates. Now we need a similar debate as 
it relates to lobbyists and Members of Congress.

                              {time}  1945

  We tell, in this institution, corporate America how to clean up their 
act. We tell professional sports teams how to clean up their act. Yet 
when it comes to our business, how we clean up our house, we are not 
very good at that. We think business as usual is just fine.
  It is time we updated our laws to reflect the explosive growth and 
increasing influence of the professional lobbyist community. It has 
been 10 years since we have done anything. The gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan) and I have introduced the Lobbying and 
Ethics Reform Act. Our bill creates a code of official conduct for 
Congress. In the coming days, we will have a Senate bill, itself, 
introduced by a colleague of ours. This code of conduct would close the 
revolving door by requiring former Members and staff to wait a minimum 
of 2 years after they leave Congress before becoming lobbyists to work 
back here influencing legislation and trading on their knowledge. The 
bill would end the practice of lobbyists serving as congressional 
travel agents by arranging lavish junkets for Members of Congress. We 
also require lobbyists to disclose their past connections, previous 
Hill employment and financial activities on a public database.
  The Meehan-Emanuel bill increases the penalties for failing to comply 
with the Lobbying Disclosure Act. It also creates a bipartisan House 
task force to recommend ways to reinvigorate ethics oversight and 
enforcement. And it would require the Government Accountability Office 
to report twice a year on the state of oversight and enforcement.
  Mr. Speaker, the gavel should mark the opening of the People's House, 
not the auction house, and that is what the American people now see 
this Congress doing. Unless we reform the relationship between the 
lobbying community and Members of Congress, we cannot restore the 
public's faith in the People's House. We are suffering from a 
systematic problem requiring an institutional solution. We need more 
sunlight, more transparency, better oversight and stiffer penalties. 
The Meehan-Emanuel bill provides that transparency. And let me add that 
this is not a partisan issue. I hope that Members of both parties will 
join us in working together to pass these important reforms.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a duty to ensure that the voices of the American

[[Page 15710]]

people are not drowned out by the professional lobbyists working the 
halls of Congress. Only through lobbying reform can we return the 
People's House to the American people.

                          ____________________