House Approves Dreier Proposal to Increase Transparency in Lobbying Reform Bill

May 24, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC - The House of Representatives today unanimously approved a proposal by Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), Rules Committee Ranking Republican, that increases transparency of post employment lobbying restrictions for former members and staff of the House. Dreier’s amendment was approved along with lobbying legislation that largely resembled a bill he championed in the previous Congress, The Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, H.R. 4975. The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, H.R. 2316, was approved with bipartisan support, 396 - 22, with one member voting present.

“I’m glad to see the new majority has decided to use our lobbying reform legislation as a basis for their own reform bill,” Dreier said. “I am even happier that they have accepted an amendment that raised their bill to the higher level of transparency included in the GOP version of the legislation. Congress can always benefit from more sunshine and disclosure. We are all reformers today. As I argued last year, now that we’ve passed this bill, we should immediately get to work on more reform.”

The Dreier amendment approved today directs the Clerk of the House to send a letter informing a member, officer, or staffer subject to the post employment ban of the start and end date of the restriction. The letters must then be made available on the internet in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable format. The provision was originally approved in H.R. 4975 last year but was initially left out of the Democratic lobbying reform bill.