[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 4068-4069]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       LOBBYING AND RULES REFORM

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, let me begin my comments by commending 
the Senator from Mississippi for his excellent statement. The Senator 
from Mississippi deserves great credit for working with his ranking 
member, Senator Dodd, to craft a lobbying reform and disclosure bill on 
the provisions that were under the Rules Committee jurisdiction. 
Similarly, I worked very closely with the ranking Democrat on the 
homeland security committee to come up with a bipartisan bill that 
reflects issues that are under the jurisdiction of the Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
  The result is a strong bill. We have married the bills reported by 
the two committees on the Senate floor. We have produced legislation 
that I think would help to restore the public's confidence in the 
integrity of the decisions that we make in Washington. Some may ask: 
Why does this matter? Why should we enact lobbying disclosure and 
reform legislation? The reason is, if the public does not trust us to 
make decisions that are not tainted by undue influence from special 
interests, then we will not, as a Congress, be able to tackle the major 
issues facing our country. If the bonds of trust between those we 
represent and public officials are so frayed, then we are not going to 
be able to make the tough decisions, the hard choices that are 
necessary when tackling the big issues and challenges that confront our 
country.
  The issues before the Senate in this bill are pressing and serious. 
Recent scandals involving Jack Abramoff and former Representative Duke 
Cunningham have brought to light the need for Congress to reevaluate 
practices that, although legal, raise questions about the integrity of 
decisions that are made or at least create the appearance of conflicts 
of interest and undue influence. We need to ban practices that erode 
the public's confidence in the integrity of Government's decisions. We 
need to have greater disclosure of the amount of money spent on 
lobbying and how it is spent. I think sunlight is the best disinfectant 
in many cases, and providing and requiring greater disclosure will make 
a real difference.
  All of us here today recognize that lobbying, whether done on behalf 
of a business organization, an environmental cause, a children's 
advocacy group, an educational institution or any other cause can 
provide us with very useful information that does not dictate but does 
aid our decisionmaking process. We should remember that lobbying 
actually has a noble history. The word comes to us from Great Britain 
when individuals would gather in the lobby of Parliament in order to 
talk to members, and the medium of exchange was ideas and not favors.
  Today, unfortunately, the word ``lobbying'' too often conjures up 
images
of all-expense-paid vacations masquerading as factfinding trips, 
special access that the average citizen can never have, and undue 
influence that leads to decisions not being made in the public 
interest. The corrosive effect of that image on the public's confidence 
in the decisions that we make cannot be underestimated.
  We in Congress have an obligation to strengthen that crucial bond of 
trust between those in Government and those whom Government serves. 
This legislation is a significant step in that direction, and we need 
to pass it promptly, without delay.
  As my colleague, the Senator from Mississippi, has mentioned, there 
are some 77 amendments that have been filed to this bill. Many of them 
have nothing to do with lobbying or ethics

[[Page 4069]]

reform. Others only have a very tangential connection. If we are 
serious about delivering lobbying reform legislation, if we believe 
that we need to clean up questionable practices, if we want to restore 
that bond of trust between the public and its elected officials, then 
we should move forward with this legislation without delay, without 
extraneous amendments that have nothing to do with the issue before us. 
We can do this bill with a good day of hard work.
  I thank the majority leader for bringing up the bill again, for 
recognizing its importance, and for working with the four managers of 
the bill to try to find a path forward. But we need cooperation from 
our colleagues and from the leaders on the other side of the aisle if 
we are going to be successful in doing so. I am convinced, as is the 
distinguished chairman of the Rules Committee, that in a day's time we 
can complete action on this bill and be on our way to conference with 
the House if we have a little cooperation from our colleagues.
  Let's not fail this test. Let's not fail to get this job done. This 
matters. It matters because if we do not have the support of the 
American people, the trust and confidence of the American people, then 
we cannot tackle the major issues facing this country.
  This bill would be a significant step forward in repairing the frayed 
bonds between the American people and their Government at a time when 
surveys indicate that trust in Congress is perilously low.
  I hope we can come together. This is a bipartisan effort. Senator 
Santorum convened a bipartisan task force that has worked very hard and 
gave rise to many of the bipartisan principles upon which this bill is 
based. Let us work together on both sides of the aisle. We have 
bipartisan support. With the ranking Democrats, Senator Lieberman and 
Senator Dodd, with the two chairmen, Senator Lott and myself, we can 
get this job done.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sununu). The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed as in 
morning business for 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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