Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
05/17/2007
Pelosi Statement on Judiciary Committee Passage of Strong Lobbying Reform Bill
“We told the American people that
Democrats would 'drain the swamp' and change the way business is done in
"The lobbying reform bill approved
by the Judiciary Committee today fulfills our promise to the American people to
make the 110th Congress the most open, honest Congress in history.”
The Honest Leadership, Open
Government Act of 2007:
·
Increases disclosure of lobbyists’
contributions to lawmakers, including contributions to Members’ charities, to
events or entities honoring members, contributions intended to pay the cost of a
meeting or a retreat, and contributions disclosed under Federal Election
Campaign Act relating to reports by conduits.
·
Doubles the Disclosure of
Lobbyists’ Reports to four times a year.
·
Establishes an online, searchable
public database of lobbyist disclosure information.
·
Establishes an online, searchable
public database of Member travel and personal financial disclosure
forms.
·
Requires sitting Members to
disclose job negotiations for post-Congressional employment by recusing
themselves for purposes of a conflict of interest.
·
Increases penalties for violation
of the Lobby Disclosure Act.
·
Requires Members prohibit their
staff from having any official contact with that individual’s spouse on behalf
of the spouse’s client if that individual’s spouse is a
lobbyist.
·
Closes a loophole in current law
that permits coalitions such as the one that funded the extensive “Harry and
Louise” ad campaign that targeted health care legislation in 1993-94 – to avoid
disclosing their clients.
·
Requires lobbyists to disclose
past Executive and Congressional employment.
·
Bans the K Street Project, which
prohibits private entities from hiring and firing based on
politics.
Pelosi also supports including in
the Honest Leadership, Open Government Act an amendment that would require
lobbyists who “bundle,” or collect and deliver campaign checks to Members of
Congress, to meet strict reporting and disclosure
guidelines.
The Honest Leadership, Open
Government Act of 2007 and the Congressional ethics reforms enacted in the first
100 hours of this Congress are significant steps forward in cleaning up the
culture of corruption that has plagued