[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2123]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            THE INTRODUCTION OF THE BUNDLING DISCLOSURE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 23, 2007

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce The Bundling 
Disclosure Act. While we have already made tremendous strides in the 
110th Congress by passing many ethics reform measures, in the first 100 
hours, our work is not done. We must continue to move forward to ensure 
that the proper relationship is maintained between Members of Congress 
and lobbyists who advance their clients, legislative interests before 
Congress. This bill is an important step in the direction of adding 
some sunlight to the activities of lobbyists who have business before 
the Congress while at the same time providing campaign contributions, 
co-hosting events or collecting and transmitting the contributions of 
others.
  While lobbyists are subject to the same legal limitations as any 
other individual regarding the amount of a contribution they can make 
to a Member's campaign, some lobbyists also solicit, gather and 
transmit the contributions of others to Members. This ``bundling'' 
practice enables lobbyists to enhance their significance to a Member of 
Congress and consequently, this practice should be transparent to the 
public
  This disclosure to the American people is essential in order to 
provide the accountability that so many voters demanded as a result of 
the abuses that took place in the recent past. We need to create 
transparency around the campaign finance practices of registered 
lobbyists. As Justice Brandeis has said, ``sunlight is the best 
disinfectant.''
  Last year, I amended the Lobbying Disclosure Act, in the Judiciary 
Committee, to require lobbyists to disclose their bundling of funds. 
This amendment was adopted on a bipartisan vote of 28 to 4 and was the 
subject of a Washington Post editorial on April 13, 2005 entitled, 
``Real Lobbying Reform, A House Committee Tackles the Nexus Between 
Campaign Cash and Legislative Influence''. Unfortunately, a funny thing 
happened on the way to the Rules Committee. This bundling disclosure 
provision was mysteriously stripped from the bill without a vote or 
comment. Any effort to add the provision back into the bill in the 
Rules Committee or on the House floor was blocked.
  Therefore, I was pleased to see that Senators Feingold and Obama 
drafted a similar provision in the 110th Congress. The Senate's 
bundling disclosure requirement was included in the Senate Ethics bill 
that passed by a vote of 96 to 2. This bill that I am introducing today 
with Congressman Meehan contains the same provision.
  The American people spoke loud and clear during the last election. 
They want reform. They want this Congress to correct the abuses of the 
past. This bill will shed much needed light on the murky intersection 
of fundraising and the legislative process. I urge you to support this 
bill so that we can restore the American people's faith in Congress and 
put the public interest before the special interests.

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