Senate Passes Levin Amendment to Establish Public Database and Electronic Filing Requirement for Lobbyists for Foreign Governments

WASHINGTON – An amendment by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., to require greater transparency for those who lobby Congress on behalf of foreign governments was passed today as part of the Lobbying Reform bill. The measure would require lobbyists for foreign governments to register their activities electronically and would also create a searchable public database to make that information available over the Internet no more than 48 hours after it is filed.

“Transparency is an important part of meaningful lobbying reform,” said Levin. “There is no reason for lobbyists for foreign governments to be held to a more lax standard of public disclosure than domestic lobbyists. This amendment is necessary to create a level playing field and ensure that the American people are able to access information about lobbyists for foreign governments on the same terms as information about domestic lobbyists.”

Lobbyists for foreign governments are currently exempt from registering under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Instead, their records are kept as part of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and are available for review only in paper form at the U.S. Department of Justice. Sen. Levin’s amendment would ensure that records filed by lobbyists for foreign governments are as accessible to the public as records filed by domestic lobbyists.

The Lobbying Reform bill will now move to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.