110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2316

AN ACT

To provide more rigorous requirements with respect to disclosure and enforcement of lobbying laws and regulations, 

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

TITLE I—CLOSING THE REVOLVING DOOR 

Sec. 101. Disclosure by Members and staff of employment negotiations. 

Sec. 102. Wrongfully influencing a private entity’s employment decisions or 

practices. 

Sec. 103. Additional restrictions on contractors. 

Sec. 104. Notification of post-employment restrictions. 

Sec. 105. Restriction on congressional employees regarding former employers. 

Sec. 106. Effective date. 

TITLE II—FULL PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING 

Sec. 201. Quarterly filing of lobbying disclosure reports. 

Sec. 202. Electronic filing of lobbying disclosure reports. 

Sec. 203. Additional lobbying disclosure requirements. 

Sec. 204. Quarterly reports on other contributions. 

Sec. 205. Prohibition on provision of gifts or travel by registered lobbyists to 

Members of Congress and to congressional employees. 

Sec. 206. Disclosure of lobbying activities by certain coalitions and associations. 

Sec. 207. Disclosure by registered lobbyists of past executive branch and congressional employment. 

Sec. 208. Public database of lobbying disclosure information; maintenance of 

information. 

Sec. 209. Sense of Congress regarding lobbying by immediate family members. 

Sec. 210. Inapplicability to certain political committees. 

Sec. 211. Effective date. 

TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT OF LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS 

Sec. 301. Increased civil and criminal penalties for failure to comply with lobbying disclosure requirements. 

TITLE IV—INCREASED DISCLOSURE 

Sec. 401. Prohibition on official contact with spouse of Member who is a registered lobbyist. 

Sec. 402. Posting of travel and financial disclosure reports on public website of 

Clerk of the House of Representatives. 

Sec. 403. Limiting gifts to Members, officers, and employees of the House from 

State and local governments. 

TITLE V—ADDITIONAL CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR PUBLIC 

OFFICIALS 

Sec. 501. Criminal penalties for public officials. 
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TITLE VI—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 601. Rule of construction.

1 TITLE I—CLOSING THE 

2 REVOLVING DOOR 

3 SEC. 101. DISCLOSURE BY MEMBERS AND STAFF OF EM4 PLOYMENT NEGOTIATIONS. 

5 The Rules of the House of Representatives are 

6 amended by redesignating rules XXVII and XXVIII as 

7 rules XXVIII and XXIX, respectively, and by inserting 

8 after rule XXVI the following new rule: 

9 ‘‘RULE XXVII 

10 ‘‘DISCLOSURE BY MEMBERS AND STAFF OF

11 EMPLOYMENT NEGOTIATIONS

12 ‘‘1. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

13 shall not directly negotiate or have any agreement of fu14 ture employment or compensation until after his or her 

15 successor has been elected, unless such Member, Delegate, 

16 or Resident Commissioner, within 3 business days after 

17 the commencement of such negotiation or agreement of 

18 future employment or compensation, files with the Com19 mittee on Standards of Official Conduct a statement, 

20 which must be signed by the Member, Delegate, or Resi21 dent Commissioner, regarding such negotiations or agree22 ment, including the name of the private entity or entities 

23 involved in such negotiations or agreement, and the date 

24 such negotiations or agreement commenced. 
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1 ‘‘2. An officer or an employee of the House earning 

2 in excess of 75 percent of the salary paid to a Member 

3 shall notify the Committee on Standards of Official Con4 duct that he or she is negotiating or has any agreement 

5 of future employment or compensation. 

6 ‘‘3. The disclosure and notification under this rule 

7 shall be made within 3 business days after the commence8 ment of such negotiation or agreement of future employ9 ment or compensation. 

10 ‘‘4. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner, 

11 and an officer or employee to whom this rule applies, shall 

12 recuse himself or herself from any matter in which there 

13 is a conflict of interest or an appearance of a conflict for 

14 that Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, 

15 or employee under this rule and shall notify the Committee 

16 on Standards of Official Conduct of such recusal. A Mem17 ber, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner making such 

18 recusal shall, upon such recusal, submit to the Clerk for 

19 public disclosure the statement of disclosure under clause 

20 1 with respect to which the recusal was made.’’. 

21 SEC. 102. WRONGFULLY INFLUENCING A PRIVATE ENTITY’S 

22 EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS OR PRACTICES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 18, United 

24 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘§ 227. Wrongfully influencing a private entity’s em2 ployment decisions by a Member of Con3 gress 

4 ‘‘Whoever, being a Senator or Representative in, or 

5 a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress or 

6 an employee of either House of Congress, with the intent 

7 to influence on the basis of partisan political affiliation 

8 an employment decision or employment practice of any 

9 private entity—

10 ‘‘(1) takes or withholds, or offers or threatens 

11 to take or withhold, an official act, or 

12 ‘‘(2) influences, or offers or threatens to influ13 ence, the official act of another, 

14 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more 

15 than 15 years, or both, and may be disqualified from hold16 ing any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United 

17 States.’’. 

18 (b) NO INFERENCE.—Nothing in section 227 of title 

19 18, United States Code, as added by this section, shall 

20 be construed to create any inference with respect to wheth21 er the activity described in section 227 of title 18, United 

22 States Code, was a criminal or civil offense before the en23 actment of this Act, including under section 201(b), 

24 201(c), any of sections 203 through 209, or section 872, 

25 of title 18, United States Code. 
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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions for chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘227. Wrongfully influencing a private entity’s employment decisions by a Member of Congress.’’.

4 SEC. 103. ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS ON CONTRACTORS. 

5 (a) PROHIBITION.—Chapter 11 of title 18, United 

6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 219 the 

7 following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 220. Restrictions on contractors with Congress 

9 ‘‘(a) RESTRICTIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a person who is an attor11 ney or a law firm, including a professional legal cor12 poration or partnership, or an attorney employed by 

13 such a law firm, enters into a contract to provide 

14 services to—

15 ‘‘(A) a committee of Congress, or a sub16 committee of any such committee, 

17 ‘‘(B) a Member of the leadership of the 

18 House of Representatives or a Member of the 

19 leadership of the Senate, 

20 ‘‘(C) a covered legislative branch official, 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(D) a working group or caucus organized 

23 to provide legislative services or other assistance 

24 to Members of Congress, 
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1 the attorney or law firm entering into the contract, 

2 and the law firm by which the attorney entering into 

3 the contract is employed, may not, during the period 

4 prescribed in paragraph (2), knowingly make, with 

5 the intent to influence, any communication or ap6 pearance before any person described in paragraph 

7 (3), on behalf of any other person (except the United 

8 States), in connection with any matter on which 

9 such attorney or law firm seeks official action by a 

10 Member, officer, or employee of either House of 

11 Congress, in his or her official capacity. 

12 ‘‘(2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period referred 

13 to in paragraph (1) is the period during which the 

14 contract described in paragraph (1) is in effect, and 

15 a period of 1 year after the attorney or law firm, as 

16 the case may be, is no longer subject to the contract. 

17 ‘‘(3) PERSONS DESCRIBED.—The persons re18 ferred to in paragraph (1) with respect to appear19 ances or communications by an attorney or law firm 

20 are any Member, officer, or employee of either 

21 House of Congress. 

22 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates paragraph 

23 (1) shall be punished as provided in section 216. 

24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘committee of Congress’ includes 

2 any standing committee, joint committee, and select 

3 committee; 

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered legislative branch offi5 cial’ has the meaning given that term in section 3 

6 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; 

7 ‘‘(3)(A) a person is an employee of a House of 

8 Congress if that person is an employee of the House 

9 of Representatives or an employee of the Senate; 

10 ‘‘(B) the terms ‘employee of the House of Rep11 resentatives’ and ‘employee of the Senate’ have the 

12 meanings given those terms in section 207(e)(7); 

13 ‘‘(4) an attorney is ‘employed’ by a law firm if 

14 the attorney is an employee of, or a partner or other 

15 member of, the law firm; 

16 ‘‘(5) the terms ‘Member of the leadership of the 

17 House of Representatives’ and ‘Member of the lead18 ership of the Senate’ have the meanings given those 

19 terms in section 207(e)(7); and 

20 ‘‘(6) the term ‘Member of Congress’ means a 

21 Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resi22 dent Commissioner to, the Congress.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

24 (1) The table of sections for chapter 11 of title 

25 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
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1 after the item relating to section 219 the following 

2 new item:

‘‘220. Restrictions on contractors with Congress.’’.

3 (2) Section 216 of title 18, United States Code, 

4 is amended by striking ‘‘or 209’’ each place it ap5 pears and inserting ‘‘, 209, or 220’’. 

6 SEC. 104. NOTIFICATION OF POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRIC7 TIONS. 

8 Section 207(e) of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new para10 graph: 

11 ‘‘(8) NOTIFICATION OF POST-EMPLOYMENT RE12 STRICTIONS.—After a Member of the House of Rep13 resentatives or an elected officer of the House of 

14 Representatives leaves office, or after the termi15 nation of employment with the House of Representa16 tives of an employee of the House of Representatives 

17 covered under paragraph (2), (3), or (4), the Clerk 

18 of the House of Representatives, after consultation 

19 with the Committee on Standards of Official Con20 duct, shall notify the Member, officer, or employee 

21 of the beginning and ending date of the prohibitions 

22 that apply to the Member, officer, or employee under 

23 this subsection, and also notify each office of the 

24 House of Representatives with respect to which such 

25 prohibitions apply of those dates. The Clerk shall 
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1 also post the information contained in such notifica2 tion on the public Internet site of the Office of the 

3 Clerk in a format that is searchable, sortable, and 

4 downloadable.’’. 

5 SEC. 105. RESTRICTION ON CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES 

6 REGARDING FORMER EMPLOYERS. 

7 (a) RESTRICTION.—Chapter 11 of title 18, United 

8 States Code, as amended by this Act, is further amended 

9 by inserting after section 220 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 221. Additional restriction on congressional em11 ployees 

12 ‘‘(a) RESTRICTION.—Any person—

13 ‘‘(1) who is a congressional employee, 

14 ‘‘(2) who, before becoming employed as a con15 gressional employee, was employed as a lobbyist, and 

16 ‘‘(3) who, within 1 year after leaving employ17 ment as a lobbyist, knowingly makes, in carrying out 

18 his or her official responsibilities as a congressional 

19 employee, any communication to or appearance be20 fore—

21 ‘‘(A) the organization that employed the 

22 person as a lobbyist, if the person was not self23 employed, 

24 ‘‘(B) any entity that was a client of the 

25 person while employed as a lobbyist, or any en-
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1 tity that was a client of the organization de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) while the person 

3 was employed as a lobbyist, or is a client of 

4 that organization during that 1-year period, 

5 on a matter relating specifically to that organization 

6 or client, 

7 shall be punished as provided in section 216. 

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘congressional employee’ means—

10 ‘‘(A) an elected officer of either House of 

11 Congress; and 

12 ‘‘(B) any employee to which any of the re13 strictions contained in paragraphs (1) though 

14 (5) of section 207(e) apply; 

15 ‘‘(2) the term ‘lobbyist’ means a person that is 

16 registered or required to register as a lobbyist under 

17 section 4(a)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

18 1995, and any employee of an organization that is 

19 registered or required to be registered under section 

20 4(b)(6) of that Act; and 

21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘client’ has the meaning given 

22 that term in section 3(2) of the Lobbying Disclosure 

23 Act of 1995.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec25 tions for chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is 
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1 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 220 the following new item:

‘‘221. Additional restriction on congressional employees.’’.

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to individuals who become congres5 sional employees on or after January 1, 2007. 

6 SEC. 106. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

7 (a) SECTION 101.—The amendment made by section 

8 101 shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act, and shall apply to negotiations commenced, and 

10 agreements entered into, on or after that date. 

11 (b) SECTION 102.—The amendments made by sec12 tion 102 shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 (c) SECTION 103.—The amendments made by section 

15 103 shall take effect on May 23, 2007, and shall apply 

16 with respect to any contract entered into before, on, or 

17 after that date. 

18 (d) SECTION 104.—The amendments made by sec19 tion 104 shall take effect on the date of enactment of this 

20 Act. 
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1 TITLE II—FULL PUBLIC 

2 DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING 

3 SEC. 201. QUARTERLY FILING OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 

4 REPORTS. 

5 (a) QUARTERLY FILING REQUIRED.—Section 5 of 

6 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is 

7 amended—

8 (1) in subsection (a)—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘SEMIANNUAL’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘QUARTERLY’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘the semiannual period’’ 

12 and all that follows through ‘‘July of each 

13 year’’ and insert ‘‘the quarterly period begin14 ning on the first day of January, April, July, 

15 and October of each year’’; and 

16 (C) by striking ‘‘such semiannual period’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘such quarterly period’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (b)—

19 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

20 by striking ‘‘semiannual report’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘quarterly report’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘semi23 annual filing period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 

24 period’’; 
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1 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘semi2 annual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly pe3 riod’’; and 

4 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘semi5 annual filing period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 

6 period’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

8 (1) DEFINITION.—Section 3(10) of the Lob9 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602) is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘six month period’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘3-month period’’. 

12 (2) REGISTRATION.—Section 4 of the Lobbying 

13 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) is amend14 ed—

15 (A) in subsection (a)(3)(A), by striking 

16 ‘‘semiannual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 

17 period’’; and 

18 (B) in subsection (b)(3)(A), by striking 

19 ‘‘semiannual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 

20 period’’. 

21 (3) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 6 of the Lobbying 

22 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is amended 

23 in paragraph (6) by striking ‘‘semiannual period’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘quarterly period’’. 
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1 (4) ESTIMATES.—Section 15 of the Lobbying 

2 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1610) is amend3 ed—

4 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘semi5 annual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly pe6 riod’’; and 

7 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘semi8 annual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly pe9 riod’’. 

10 (5) DOLLAR AMOUNTS.—Section 4 of the Lob11 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) is fur12 ther amended—

13 (A) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(i), by striking 

14 ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,500’’; 

15 (B) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(ii), by striking 

16 ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$10,000’’; 

17 (C) in subsection (b)(3)(A), by striking 

18 ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’; and 

19 (D) in subsection (b)(4), by striking 

20 ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 

21 SEC. 202. ELECTRONIC FILING OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 

22 REPORTS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclo24 sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is amended by adding 

25 at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(d) ELECTRONIC FILING REQUIRED.—A report re2 quired to be filed under this section shall be filed in elec3 tronic form, in addition to any other form that may be 

4 required by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of 

5 the House of Representatives.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirement in section 

7 5(d) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as added 

8 by subsection (a) of this section, that reports be filed elec9 tronically shall take effect on the day after the end of the 

10 first calendar quarter that begins after the date of the en11 actment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 203. ADDITIONAL LOBBYING DISCLOSURE REQUIRE13 MENTS. 

14 (a) GIFTS.—Section 5(b) of the Lobbying Disclosure 

15 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(b)) is amended—

16 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

17 the semicolon; 

18 (2) in paragraph (4) by striking the period and 

19 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(5) a certification that the lobbying firm, or 

22 registrant, and each employee listed as a lobbyist 

23 under section 4(b)(6) or paragraph (2)(C) of this 

24 subsection for that lobbying firm or registrant, has 

25 not provided, requested, or directed a gift, including 
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1 travel, to a Member of Congress or an officer or em2 ployee of either House of Congress in violation rule 

3 XXXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate or rule 

4 XXV of the Rules of the House of Representatives.’’. 

5 (b) REQUESTS FOR CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS.—

6 Section 5(b)(2)(A) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

7 (2 U.S.C. 1604(b)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘bill 

8 numbers’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘bill numbers, re9 quests for Congressional earmarks (as defined in clause 

10 9(d) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representa11 tives for the One Hundred Tenth Congress),’’. 

12 SEC. 204. QUARTERLY REPORTS ON OTHER CONTRIBU13 TIONS. 

14 (a) OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 5 of the Lob15 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is further 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(e) QUARTERLY REPORTS ON OTHER CONTRIBU18 TIONS.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days 

20 after the end of the quarterly period beginning on 

21 the first day of January, April, July, and October of 

22 each year, or on the first business day after the first 

23 day of such month if that day is not a business day, 

24 each person who is registered or is required to reg25 ister under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 4(a), and 
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1 each employee who is or is required to be listed as 

2 a lobbyist under section 4(b)(6) or subsection (b) of 

3 this section, shall file a report with the Secretary of 

4 the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Represent5 atives containing—

6 ‘‘(A) the name of the person; 

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of an employee, his or her 

8 the employer; 

9 ‘‘(C) the names of all political committees 

10 established or administered by the person; 

11 ‘‘(D) the name of each Federal candidate 

12 or officeholder, leadership PAC, or political 

13 party committee, to whom aggregate contribu14 tions equal to or exceeding $200 were made by 

15 the person or a political committee established 

16 or administered by the person within the cal17 endar year, and the date and amount of each 

18 contribution made within the quarterly period; 

19 ‘‘(E) the date, recipient, and amount of 

20 funds contributed, disbursed, or arranged (or a 

21 good faith estimate thereof) by the person or a 

22 political committee established or administered 

23 by the person during the quarterly period—

24 ‘‘(i) to pay the cost of an event to 

25 honor or recognize a covered legislative 
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1 branch official or covered executive branch 

2 official; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to, or on behalf of, an entity that 

4 is named for a covered legislative branch 

5 official, or to a person or entity in recogni6 tion of such official; 

7 ‘‘(iii) to an entity established, fi8 nanced, maintained, or controlled by a cov9 ered legislative branch official or covered 

10 executive branch official, or an entity des11 ignated by such official; or 

12 ‘‘(iv) to pay the costs of a meeting, re13 treat, conference, or other similar event 

14 held by, or for the benefit of, 1 or more 

15 covered legislative branch officials or cov16 ered executive branch officials; 

17 ‘‘(F) any information reported to the Fed18 eral Election Commission under the second sen19 tence of section 315(a)(8) of the Federal Elec20 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (relating to reports 

21 by intermediaries and conduits of the original 

22 source and the intended recipient of contribu23 tions under such Act) during the quarterly pe24 riod by the person or a political committee es25 tablished or administered by the person; and 
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1 ‘‘(G) the amount and recipient of any 

2 funds provided to an organization described in 

3 section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

4 1986 that is not treated as a political com5 mittee under section 301(4) under the Federal 

6 Election Campaign Act of 1971. 

7 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

8 ‘leadership PAC’ means, with respect to an indi9 vidual holding Federal office, an unauthorized polit10 ical committee that is associated with an individual 

11 holding Federal office, except that such term shall 

12 not apply in the case of a political committee of a 

13 political party.’’. 

14 (b) CONTRIBUTIONS BUNDLED FOR CERTAIN RE15 CIPIENTS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 of the Lobbying 

17 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is further 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new 

19 subsection: 

20 ‘‘(f) QUARTERLY REPORTS ON CONTRIBUTIONS BUN21 DLED FOR CERTAIN RECIPIENTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days 

23 after the end of the quarterly period beginning on 

24 the first day of January, April, July, and October of 

25 each year, each registered lobbyist who bundles 2 or 
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1 more contributions made to a covered recipient in an 

2 aggregate amount exceeding $5,000 for such covered 

3 recipient during such quarterly period shall file a re4 port with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk 

5 of the House of Representatives containing—

6 ‘‘(A) the name of the registered lobbyist; 

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of an employee, his or her 

8 employer; and 

9 ‘‘(C) the name of the covered recipient to 

10 whom the contribution is made, and to the ex11 tent known the aggregate amount of such con12 tributions (or a good faith estimate thereof) 

13 within the quarter for the covered recipient. 

14 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.—

15 In filing a report under paragraph (1), a registered 

16 lobbyist shall exclude from the report any informa17 tion described in paragraph (1)(C) which is included 

18 in any other report filed by the registered lobbyist 

19 with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of 

20 the House of Representatives under subsection (e). 

21 ‘‘(3) REQUIRING SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION

22 PRIOR TO FILING REPORTS.—Not later than 25 days 

23 after the end of a period for which a registered lob24 byist is required to file a report under paragraph (1) 

25 which includes any information described in such 
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1 section with respect to a covered recipient, the reg2 istered lobbyist shall transmit by certified mail to 

3 the covered recipient involved a statement con4 taining—

5 ‘‘(A) the information that will be included 

6 in the report with respect to the covered recipi7 ent; 

8 ‘‘(B) the source of each contribution in9 cluded in the aggregate amount referred to in 

10 paragraph (1)(C) which the registered lobbyist 

11 bundled for the covered recipient during the pe12 riod covered by the report and the amount of 

13 the contribution attributable to each such 

14 source; and 

15 ‘‘(C) a notification that the covered recipi16 ent has the right to respond to the statement 

17 to challenge and correct any information in18 cluded before the registered lobbyist files the re19 port under paragraph (1). 

20 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF REGISTERED LOBBYIST.—

21 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘registered 

22 lobbyist’ means a person who is registered or is re23 quired to register under paragraph (1) or (2) of sec24 tion 4(a), or an individual who is required to be list25 ed under section 4(b)(6) or subsection (b). 
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1 ‘‘(5) DEFINITION OF BUNDLED CONTRIBU2 TION.—For purposes of this subsection, a registered 

3 lobbyist ‘bundles’ a contribution if—

4 ‘‘(A) the bundled contribution is received 

5 by a registered lobbyist for, and forwarded by 

6 a registered lobbyist to, the covered recipient to 

7 whom the contribution is made; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the bundled contribution will be or 

9 has been credited or attributed to the registered 

10 lobbyist through records, designations, recogni11 tions or other means of tracking by the covered 

12 recipient to whom the contribution is made. 

13 ‘‘(6) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this sub14 section—

15 ‘‘(A) the term ‘contribution’ has the mean16 ing given such term in the Federal Election 

17 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), 

18 except that such term does not include a con19 tribution in an amount which is less than $200; 

20 ‘‘(B) the terms ‘candidate’, ‘political com21 mittee’, and ‘political party committee’ have the 

22 meaning given such terms in the Federal Elec23 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et 

24 seq.); 
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1 ‘‘(C) the term ‘covered recipient’ means a 

2 Federal candidate, an individual holding Fed3 eral office, a leadership PAC, a multicandidate 

4 political committee described in section 

5 315(a)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign 

6 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(4)), or a polit7 ical party committee; and 

8 ‘‘(D) the term ‘leadership PAC’ has the 

9 meaning given such term in subsection (e)(2).’’. 

10 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

11 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the sec12 ond quarterly period described in section 5(f)(1) of 

13 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (as added by 

14 paragraph (1)) which begins after the date of the 

15 enactment of this Act and each succeeding quarterly 

16 period. 

17 SEC. 205. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF GIFTS OR TRAV18 EL BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS TO MEMBERS 

19 OF CONGRESS AND TO CONGRESSIONAL EM20 PLOYEES. 

21 (a) PROHIBITION.—The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

22 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

23 the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 25. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF GIFTS OR TRAV2 EL BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS TO MEMBERS 

3 OF CONGRESS AND TO CONGRESSIONAL EM4 PLOYEES. 

5 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Any person described in sub6 section (b) may not make a gift or provide travel to a 

7 Member, officer, or employee of Congress, if the person 

8 has knowledge that the gift or travel may not be accepted 

9 under the rules of the House of Representatives or the 

10 Senate. 

11 ‘‘(b) PERSONS SUBJECT TO PROHIBITION.—The per12 sons subject to the prohibition under subsection (a) are 

13 any lobbyist that is registered or is required to register 

14 under section 4(a)(1), any organization that employs 1 or 

15 more lobbyists and is registered or is required to register 

16 under section 4(a)(2), and any employee listed or required 

17 to be listed as a lobbyist by a registrant under section 

18 4(b)(6).’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act. 

22 SEC. 206. DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES BY CER23 TAIN COALITIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 

24 Paragraph (2) of section 3 of the Lobbying Disclo25 sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602) is amended to read as 

26 follows: 
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1 ‘‘(2) CLIENT.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘client’ 

3 means any person or entity that employs or re4 tains another person for financial or other com5 pensation to conduct lobbying activities on be6 half of that person or entity. A person or entity 

7 whose employees act as lobbyists on its own be8 half is both a client and an employer of such 

9 employees. 

10 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF COALITIONS AND AS11 SOCIATIONS.—

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro13 vided in clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv), in the 

14 case of a coalition or association that em15 ploys or retains other persons to conduct 

16 lobbying activities, each of the individual 

17 members of the coalition or association 

18 (and not the coalition or association) is the 

19 client. For purposes of section 4(a)(3), the 

20 preceding sentence shall not apply, and the 

21 coalition or association shall be treated as 

22 the client. 

23 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TAX24 EXEMPT ASSOCIATIONS.—In the case of an 

25 association—
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1 ‘‘(I) which is described in para2 graph (3) of section 501(c) of the In3 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and ex4 empt from tax under section 501(a) of 

5 such Code, or 

6 ‘‘(II) which is described in any 

7 other paragraph of section 501(c) of 

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

9 and exempt from tax under section 

10 501(a) of such Code and which has 

11 substantial exempt activities other 

12 than lobbying with respect to the spe13 cific issue for which it engaged the 

14 person filing the registration state15 ment under section 4, 

16 the association (and not its members) shall 

17 be treated as the client. 

18 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN MEM19 BERS.—Information on a member of a coa20 lition or association need not be included 

21 in any registration under section 4 if the 

22 amount reasonably expected to be contrib23 uted by such member toward the activities 

24 of the coalition or association of influ25 encing legislation is less than $500 during 
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1 the quarterly period during which the reg2 istration would be made. 

3 ‘‘(iv) NO DONOR OR MEMBERSHIP

4 LIST DISCLOSURE.—No disclosure is re5 quired under this Act, by reason of this 

6 subparagraph, with respect to lobbying ac7 tivities if it is publicly available knowledge 

8 that the organization that would be identi9 fied under this subparagraph is affiliated 

10 with the client concerned or has been pub11 licly disclosed to have provided funding to 

12 the client, unless the organization in whole 

13 or in major part plans, supervises, or con14 trols such lobbying activities. Nothing in 

15 this subparagraph shall be construed to re16 quire the disclosure of any information 

17 about individuals who are members of, or 

18 donors to, an entity treated as a client by 

19 this Act or an organization identified 

20 under this subparagraph.’’. 

21 SEC. 207. DISCLOSURE BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS OF 

22 PAST EXECUTIVE BRANCH AND CONGRES23 SIONAL EMPLOYMENT. 

24 Section 4(b)(6) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

25 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(6)) is amended by striking ‘‘or 
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1 a covered legislative branch official’’ and all that follows 

2 through ‘‘as a lobbyist on behalf of the client,’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘or a covered legislative branch official,’’. 

4 SEC. 208. PUBLIC DATABASE OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE IN5 FORMATION; MAINTENANCE OF INFORMA6 TION. 

7 (a) DATABASE REQUIRED.—Section 6 of the Lob8 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is further 

9 amended—

10 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

11 end; 

12 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 

13 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraphs: 

16 ‘‘(9) maintain, and make available to the public 

17 over the Internet, without a fee or other access 

18 charge, in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable 

19 manner, an electronic database that—

20 ‘‘(A) includes the information contained in 

21 registrations and reports filed under this Act; 

22 ‘‘(B) directly links the information it con23 tains to the information disclosed in reports 

24 filed with the Federal Election Commission 
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1 under section 304 of the Federal Election Cam2 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434); and 

3 ‘‘(C) is searchable and sortable to the max4 imum extent practicable, including searchable 

5 and sortable by each of the categories of infor6 mation described in section 4(b) or 5(b); and 

7 ‘‘(10) retain the information contained in a reg8 istration or report filed under this Act for a period 

9 of at least 6 years after the registration or report 

10 (as the case may be) is filed.’’. 

11 (b) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(4) of the Lobbying 

13 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is amended 

14 by inserting before the semicolon at the end the fol15 lowing: ‘‘and, in the case of a report filed in elec16 tronic form pursuant to section 5(d), make such re17 port available for public inspection over the Internet 

18 not more than 48 hours after the report is so filed’’. 

19 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

20 by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the day after 

21 the end of the first calendar quarter that begins 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

25 necessary to carry out paragraph (9) of section 6 of the 
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1 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605), as 

2 added by subsection (a) of this section. 

3 SEC. 209. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING LOBBYING BY 

4 IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS. 

5 It is the sense of the Congress that the use of a fam6 ily relationship by a lobbyist who is an immediate family 

7 member of a Member of Congress to gain special advan8 tages over other lobbyists is inappropriate. 

9 SEC. 210. INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN POLITICAL COM10 MITTEES. 

11 The amendments made by this title shall not apply 

12 to the activities of any political committee described in sec13 tion 301(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

14 (2 U.S.C. 431(4)). 

15 SEC. 211. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 Except as otherwise provided, the amendments made 

17 by this title shall apply with respect to any quarterly filing 

18 period under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 that 

19 begins on or after January 1, 2008. 
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1 TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT OF 

2 LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS 

3 SEC. 301. INCREASED CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR 

4 FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH LOBBYING DIS5 CLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. 

6 Section 7 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

7 U.S.C. 1606) is amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 

9 CIVIL PENALTY.—Whoever’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘$100,000’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(b) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Whoever knowingly and 

14 corruptly fails to comply with any provision of this Act 

15 shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years or fined 

16 under title 18, United States Code, or both.’’. 

17 TITLE IV—INCREASED 

18 DISCLOSURE 

19 SEC. 401. PROHIBITION ON OFFICIAL CONTACT WITH 

20 SPOUSE OF MEMBER WHO IS A REGISTERED 

21 LOBBYIST. 

22 Rule XXV of the Rules of the House of Representa23 tives is amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 clause: 
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1 ‘‘7. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

2 shall prohibit all staff employed by that Member, Dele3 gate, or Resident Commissioner (including staff in per4 sonal, committee, and leadership offices) from having any 

5 official contact with that individual’s spouse if that spouse 

6 is a lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

7 or is employed or retained by such a lobbyist for the pur8 pose of influencing legislation.’’. 

9 SEC. 402. POSTING OF TRAVEL AND FINANCIAL DISCLO10 SURE REPORTS ON PUBLIC WEBSITE OF 

11 CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA12 TIVES. 

13 (a) REQUIRING POSTING ON INTERNET.—The Clerk 

14 of the House of Representatives shall post on the public 

15 Internet site of the Office of the Clerk, in a format that 

16 is searchable, sortable, and downloadable, each of the fol17 lowing: 

18 (1) The advance authorizations, certifications, 

19 and disclosures filed with respect to transportation, 

20 lodging, and related expenses for travel under clause 

21 5(b) of rule XXV of the Rules of the House of Rep22 resentatives by Members (including Delegates and 

23 Resident Commissioners to the Congress), officers, 

24 and employees of the House. 
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1 (2) The reports filed under section 103(h)(1) of 

2 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 by Members 

3 of the House of Representatives (including Delegates 

4 and Resident Commissioners to the Congress). 

5 (b) APPLICABILITY AND TIMING.—

6 (1) APPLICABILITY.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

7 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to informa8 tion received by the Clerk of the House of Rep9 resentatives on or after the date of the enactment of 

10 this Act. 

11 (2) TIMING.—The Clerk of the House of Rep12 resentatives shall—

13 (A) not later than August 1, 2008, post 

14 the information required by subsection (a) that 

15 the Clerk receives by June 1, 2008; and 

16 (B) not later than the end of each 45-day 

17 period occurring after information is required to 

18 be posted under subparagraph (A), post the in19 formation required by subsection (a) that the 

20 Clerk has received since the last posting under 

21 this subsection. 

22 (3) OMISSION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE

23 INFORMATION.—Members of the House of Rep24 resentatives (including Delegates and Resident Com25 missioners to the Congress) shall be permitted to 
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1 omit personally identifiable information not required 

2 to be disclosed on the reports posted on the public 

3 Internet site under this section (such as home ad4 dress, Social Security numbers, personal bank ac5 count numbers, home telephone, and names of chil6 dren) prior to the posting of such reports on such 

7 public Internet site. 

8 (4) ASSISTANCE IN PROTECTING PERSONAL IN9 FORMATION.—The Clerk of the House of Represent10 atives, in consultation with the Committee on Stand11 ards of Official Conduct, shall include in any infor12 mational materials concerning any disclosure that 

13 will be posted on the public Internet site under this 

14 section an explanation of the procedures for pro15 tecting personally identifiable information as de16 scribed in this section. 

17 (c) RETENTION.—The Clerk shall maintain the infor18 mation posted on the public Internet site of the Office of 

19 the Clerk under this section for a period of at least 6 years 

20 after receiving the information. 

21 SEC. 403. LIMITING GIFTS TO MEMBERS, OFFICERS, AND 

22 EMPLOYEES OF THE HOUSE FROM STATE 

23 AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. 

24 (a) GIFTS FROM STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN25 MENTS.—Clause 5(a)(3)(O) of rule XXV of the Rules of 
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1 the House of Representatives is amended by striking ‘‘, 

2 by a State or local government,’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Clause 5(b)(1)(A) 

4 of rule XXV of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

5 is amended by inserting ‘‘a State or local government or’’ 

6 before ‘‘a private source’’. 

7 TITLE V—ADDITIONAL CRIMI8 NAL PENALTIES FOR PUBLIC 

9 OFFICIALS 

10 SEC. 501. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter D of chapter 227 of 

12 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘§ 3587. Increased imprisonment for certain offenses 

15 by public officials 

16 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In any Federal criminal case 

17 in which a public official is convicted of an offense against 

18 the United States—

19 ‘‘(1) consisting of conduct during the course of 

20 official duty, intended to enrich that official; and 

21 ‘‘(2) involving bribery, fraud, extortion, or theft 

22 of public funds greater than $10,000; 

23 the sentencing judge may increase the sentence of impris24 onment by an amount of up to 2 years. The sentencing 

25 judge may double the sentence of imprisonment that 
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1 would otherwise be imposed in that case: Provided, how2 ever that in no instance may the sentencing judge be al3 lowed to increase the sentence by more than 2 years. 

4 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘public 

5 official’ means—

6 ‘‘(1) an elected official of the United States or 

7 of a State or local government; 

8 ‘‘(2) a presidentially-appointed official; and 

9 ‘‘(3) an official appointed to a State or local 

10 governmental office by an elected official of a State 

11 or local government.’’. 

12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

13 at the beginning of subchapter D of chapter 227 of title 

14 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following new item:

‘‘3587. Increased imprisonment for certain offenses by public officials.’’.

16 TITLE VI—GENERAL 

17 PROVISIONS 

18 SEC. 601. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

19 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

20 Act shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct 

21 protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities pro-
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1 tected by the free speech, free exercise, or free association 

2 clauses of, the First Amendment to the Constitution. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 24, 2007. 

Attest:

Clerk. 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2316

AN ACT

To provide more rigorous requirements with respect 

and regulations, and for other purposes.to disclosure and enforcement of lobbying laws