Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006

LOBBYING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - May 03, 2006)

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague, Ms. Slaughter, for exposing this bill for the sham it is. It is an insult to voters around this country, an attempt to create a perception that we are making changes when, in fact, we are not. And not only is the bill snake oil, but the process by which this bill is passed is snake oil.

The previous speaker talked about those who are trying to criticize the process from the outside. Well, let me just tell you a little story. When this bill was before the Judiciary Committee, I offered an amendment. It was a simple amendment to require registered lobbyists to disclose contributions they solicit and transfer to Members of Congress in the course of doing their business. It was an attempt to shine a light on the pay-to-play culture that we have seen in Washington. That amendment passed this Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan vote of 28-4.

The Washington Post then wrote an editorial about it, and I would like to cite from that editorial because what the editorial said very clearly was this was a provision that exposed, more than any other provision, the way Washington does business. And they said in very prescient manner, we are afraid to shine the light on this issue for fear that it will be shot down all the more quickly. But, in fact, no other disclosure requirement would be more useful in explaining the way Washington does business than this one.

Well, what happened? A funny thing happened on the way to the Rules Committee from the Judiciary Committee. When people voted ``yes'' in the daylight, it was taken out in the middle of the night, and then the Rules Committee denied us an opportunity to vote on that very provision here on the floor of the House, a sham process for a sham bill.

Now, this is a lot more than just about golf trips for Members of Congress paid for by lobbyists. The fundamental issue for the American people is what it is costing them every day because we don't have better rules to shine the light on lobbyists.

And we should look at the current gas prices right now. This institution and the President has signed now two bills in the last several years on energy. Both were said to be a big provision to reduce the price of gas. Well, we all know what a sham those bills were. What one of those bills did was create billions of dollars of subsidies to the oil and gas industry at a time that industry has experienced record profits and people are seeing high prices at the pump.

We heard the other day this Band-Aid proposal from the Republican Senate, $100 rebate. What the American people are looking for is not chump change. They are looking for real change in the process in Washington so that we can change this country and take it in the right direction.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chairman, I am here today to ask that you grant me the opportunity to reinstate an amendment to H.R. 4975 that had been added in the Judiciary Committee, but was somehow stripped out en route to the Rules Committee.

My amendment simply requires ``registered lobbyists'' to disclose the fact that they have ``solicited and transmitted'' a campaign contribution. Moreover, my amendment would require that lobbyists, who serve as campaign treasurers and chairman of political committees to disclose that as well. This amendment was added to the Lobbying Disclosure Act on April 5, 2006 by a vote of 28 to 4.

It is ironic that an editorial about this amendment in the Washington Post, on April 13, 2006, stated--``We are almost reluctant to flag this provision for fear that it will be shot down all the more quickly, but in fact no other disclosure requirement would be more useful in explaining the way Washington does business than this one.''

I am not sure what appalls me more, the fact that the bill does precious little to address the problems that have created the culture of corruption on Capitol Hill or the fact that the few enhancements to the bill, added through the committee process, have been summarily deleted without a debate or vote. The irony is that the abuse of power that has taken place on the Hill, that undermines the confidence of the American people, is alive and well in the management of the bill that was originally designed to correct such abuses.

The bill before us today is a weak attempt to create the allusion of reform. It fails to address: the problems with the revolving door between public service and lobbying, the showering of benefits to Members of Congress by lobbyists who have business before them, the need to enhance a broken Ethics Committee process and the need to reform the campaign financing system that creates the dangerous intersection between congressional action and campaign fundraising.

The amendment that is before the Committee today, in my opinion, is a modest but important step in the direction to expose some sunlight on the activities where registered lobbyists have business before the Congress while at the same time soliciting and transmitting campaign contributions, in addition to serving as officers that run campaigns and political committees. I believe that these practices should be studied for the prospects of future regulation.

However, at the very least, I believe that we need to compel the disclosure of these activities to the American people. We need to create transparency around the campaign finance practices that a registered lobbyist performs, as well as, the business that they bring to Members of Congress. As Justice Brandeis has said, ``sunlight is the best disinfectant''. Moreover, this disclosure will allow the American people to see the whole picture, of lobbying activity, so that they may judge, for themselves, the propriety of the transactions that have become an everyday practice in Washington.

With public opinion of Congress at an all time low, we owe the American people a serious bill that is not a ``reform bill'' in name only. The culture of corruption that has plagued the 109th Congress is probably only rivaled, in infamy, by the Watergate era. The American people have seen Members of Congress: give appropriations earmarks in exchange for a Rolls Royce and lavish antiques; enjoy posh golf trips in Scotland at the expense of Native American tribes who were exploited by nefarious lobbyists, determine which lobbyists on K Street get the lucrative contracts, channel campaign finances to Members' spouse and children, and bend the House rules to allow the House leadership to bend the arms of Members to force a particular vote outcome.

The American people are shocked and appalled by these activities. However, the real shocker is the reality that many people do not see, i.e. the nexus between these conflicts of interest and the pocketbooks of the American people. The effects can be seen in the influence of the oil industry in gaining subsidies while gas prices are skyrocketing, as well as the impact that the pharmaceutical industry had in drafting the Medicare Part D bill that prohibits drug importation and the competition for price reduction.

We need to restore the trust of the American people. We need to start today by allowing this bill to be made into a real lobbying reform bill. I urge the Committee to rule my amendment in order so that I have the chance to add my amendment to this bill a second time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov/