[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2412]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    AUTHORIZING LEGAL REPRESENTATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 460.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 460) to authorize representation by 
     the Senate Legal Counsel in the case of National Association 
     of Manufacturers v. Taylor, et al.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, S. Res. 460 concerns a civil action filed in 
the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The National 
Association of Manufacturers is challenging the constitutionality of 
section 207 of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, 
which amended the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to strengthen the 
reporting requirements for coalitions and associations that engage in 
lobbying activities.
  As amended, the law mandates that registrants disclose the members of 
their organization that contribute more than $5,000 in a quarterly 
period to the lobbying activities of the organization and ``actively 
participate in the planning, supervision, or control of such 
activities.'' Under prior law, disclosure was required of those members 
who contributed at least $10,000 for lobbying semiannually but only if 
those members ``in whole or in major part'' planned, supervised, or 
controlled such lobbying activities.
  The plaintiff National Association of Manufacturers alleges that its 
members face sustained injury to their first amendment rights, 
including their right to anonymous policy speech, and seeks to prevent 
the enhanced disclosure requirements from taking effect on the initial 
quarterly period filing date, April 21, 2008.
  NAM named as defendants the U.S. attorney for the District of 
Columbia, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Clerk of the House. The 
Secretary and the Clerk are responsible for providing guidance and 
assistance on lobbying disclosure requirements, receiving lobbying 
registration and report filings, reviewing, inquiring, and verifying 
the accuracy of the filings without investigating, notifying lobbyists 
that appear not to be in compliance with the law, and notifying the 
U.S. attorney of lobbyist who have been so notified and have failed to 
submit an appropriate response. The U.S. attorney has the duty to 
enforce the disclosure requirements through civil, and, under the new 
law, criminal, actions.
  This resolution authorizes the Senate legal counsel to represent the 
Secretary of the Senate to defend the constitutionality of the lobbying 
disclosure amendment in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act 
and to seek dismissal of the action, in conjunction with counsel for 
the House of Representatives and the Department of Justice.
  Senate counsel will present to the court the bases for the Congress's 
judgment, after more than a dozen years of experience under the 
Lobbying Disclosure Act, that enhanced reporting requirements are 
necessary to inform Congress and the public of the identity of those 
organizations actively participating in lobbying the Federal 
Government. As Justice Louis Brandeis famously wrote, ``Sunlight is 
said to be the best of disinfectants.''
  The lobbying amendments enacted last year were an important part of 
the Congress's efforts to restore public confidence through integrity 
and openness in Government and lobbying activities. Disclosure of the 
identities of organizations that actively participate in supervising or 
planning lobbying campaigns will yield a sizable public benefit while 
imposing a modest burden on the exercise of the right of organizations 
such as the National Association of Manufacturers freely to associate 
to petition the Government in furtherance of their legislative agenda.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed 
to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, en bloc, with no intervening action or debate, and that any 
statements relating to this matter be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 460) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 460

       Whereas, in the case of National Association of 
     Manufacturers v. Taylor, et al., Case No. 08-CV-208-CKK 
     (D.D.C.), pending in the United States District Court for the 
     District of Columbia, the plaintiff is asserting that the 
     reporting requirements of section 4(b)(3) of the Lobbying 
     Disclosure Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(3), as amended by 
     section 207 of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act 
     of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-81, 121 Stat. 735, 747, are 
     unconstitutional;
       Whereas, the plaintiff has named the Secretary of the 
     Senate, Nancy Erickson, as a defendant in her capacity as the 
     officer of the Senate responsible for the receipt of lobbying 
     disclosure registrations and reports;
       Whereas, pursuant to sections 703(a) and 704(a)(1) of the 
     Ethics in Government Act of 1978, 2 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 288b(a) 
     and 288c(a)(1), the Senate may direct its counsel to defend 
     officers of the Senate in civil actions relating to their 
     official responsibilities: Now therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate Legal Counsel is authorized to 
     represent the Secretary of the Senate in the case of National 
     Association of Manufacturers v. Taylor, et al.

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