I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2268

To provide for the disclosure of lobbying activities to influence the Federal

Government, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 6, 1995

Mr. MCHALE (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. DICKEY,

Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. MINGE, Mr. KLUG, Mrs. WALDHOLTZ,

Mr. CASTLE, Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. MEEHAN, and Mr. LUTHER) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for the disclosure of lobbying activities to

influence the Federal Government, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lobbying Disclosure

5 Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) responsible representative Government re9 quires public awareness of the efforts of paid lobby-
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1 ists to influence the public decisionmaking process in

2 both the legislative and executive branches of the

3 Federal Government;

4 (2) existing lobbying disclosure statutes have

5 been ineffective because of unclear statutory lan6 guage, weak administrative and enforcement provi7 sions, and an absence of clear guidance as to who

8 is required to register and what they are required to

9 disclose; and

10 (3) the effective public disclosure of the identity

11 and extent of the efforts of paid lobbyists to influ12 ence Federal officials in the conduct of Government

13 actions will increase public confidence in the integ14 rity of Government.

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

16 As used in this Act:

17 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the

18 meaning given that term in section 551(1) of title 5,

19 United States Code.

20 (2) CLIENT.—The term ‘‘client’’ means any

21 person or entity that employs or retains another per22 son for financial or other compensation to conduct

23 lobbying activities on behalf of that person or entity.

24 A person or entity whose employees act as lobbyists

25 on its own behalf is both a client and an employer
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1 of such employees. In the case of a coalition or asso2 ciation that employs or retains other persons to con3 duct lobbying activities, the client is the coalition or

4 association and not its individual members.

5 (3) COVERED EXECUTIVE BRANCH OFFICIAL.—

6 The term ‘‘covered executive branch official’’

7 means—

8 (A) the President;

9 (B) the Vice President;

10 (C) any officer or employee, or any other

11 individual functioning in the capacity of such

12 an officer or employee, in the Executive Office

13 of the President;

14 (D) any officer or employee serving in a

15 position in level I, II, III, IV, or V of the Exec16 utive Schedule, as designated by statute or Ex17 ecutive order;

18 (E) any member of the uniformed services

19 whose pay grade is at or above O–7 under sec20 tion 201 of title 37, United States Code; and

21 (F) any officer or employee serving in a

22 position of a confidential, policy-determining,

23 policy-making, or policy-advocating character

24 described in section 7511(b)(2) of title 5, Unit25 ed States Code.
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1 (4) COVERED LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OFFI2 CIAL.—The term ‘‘covered legislative branch official’’

3 means—

4 (A) a Member of Congress;

5 (B) an elected officer of either House of

6 Congress;

7 (C) any employee of, or any other individ8 ual functioning in the capacity of an employee

9 of—

10 (i) a Member of Congress;

11 (ii) a committee of either House of

12 Congress;

13 (iii) the leadership staff of the House

14 of Representatives or the leadership staff

15 of the Senate;

16 (iv) a joint committee of Congress;

17 and

18 (v) a working group or caucus orga19 nized to provide legislative services or

20 other assistance to Members of Congress;

21 and

22 (D) any other legislative branch employee

23 serving in a position described under section

24 109(13) of the Ethics in Government Act of

25 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
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1 (5) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means

2 any individual who is an officer, employee, partner,

3 director, or proprietor of a person or entity, but does

4 not include—

5 (A) independent contractors; or

6 (B) volunteers who receive no financial or

7 other compensation from the person or entity

8 for their services.

9 (6) FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term ‘‘foreign en10 tity’’ means a foreign principal (as defined in section

11 1(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938

12 (22 U.S.C. 611(b)).

13 (7) LOBBYING ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘lobby14 ing activities’’ means lobbying contacts and efforts

15 in support of such contacts, including preparation

16 and planning activities, research and other back17 ground work that is intended, at the time it is per18 formed, for use in contacts, and coordination with

19 the lobbying activities of others.

20 (8) LOBBYING CONTACT.—

21 (A) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘lobbying

22 contact’’ means any oral or written communica23 tion (including an electronic communication) to

24 a covered executive branch official or a covered
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1 legislative branch official that is made on behalf

2 of a client with regard to—

3 (i) the formulation, modification, or

4 adoption of Federal legislation (including

5 legislative proposals);

6 (ii) the formulation, modification, or

7 adoption of a Federal rule, regulation, Ex8 ecutive order, or any other program, policy,

9 or position of the United States Govern10 ment;

11 (iii) the administration or execution of

12 a Federal program or policy (including the

13 negotiation, award, or administration of a

14 Federal contract, grant, loan, permit, or li15 cense); or

16 (iv) the nomination or confirmation of

17 a person for a position subject to confirma18 tion by the Senate.

19 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘lobbying

20 contact’’ does not include a communication that

21 is—

22 (i) made by a public official acting in

23 the public official’s official capacity;

24 (ii) made by a representative of a

25 media organization if the purpose of the
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1 communication is gathering and dissemi2 nating news and information to the public;

3 (iii) made in a speech, article, publica4 tion or other material that is distributed

5 and made available to the public, or

6 through radio, television, cable television,

7 or other medium of mass communication;

8 (iv) made on behalf of a government

9 of a foreign country or a foreign political

10 party and disclosed under the Foreign

11 Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22

12 U.S.C. 611 et seq.);

13 (v) a request for a meeting, a request

14 for the status of an action, or any other

15 similar administrative request, if the re16 quest does not include an attempt to influ17 ence a covered executive branch official or

18 a covered legislative branch official;

19 (vi) made in the course of participa20 tion in an advisory committee subject to

21 the Federal Advisory Committee Act;

22 (vii) testimony given before a commit23 tee, subcommittee, or task force of the

24 Congress, or submitted for inclusion in the

25 public record of a hearing conducted by
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1 such committee, subcommittee, or task

2 force;

3 (viii) information provided in writing

4 in response to an oral or written request

5 by a covered executive branch official or a

6 covered legislative branch official for spe7 cific information;

8 (ix) required by subpoena, civil inves9 tigative demand, or otherwise compelled by

10 statute, regulation, or other action of the

11 Congress or an agency;

12 (x) made in response to a notice in

13 the Federal Register, Commerce Business

14 Daily, or other similar publication solicit15 ing communications from the public and

16 directed to the agency official specifically

17 designated in the notice to receive such

18 communications;

19 (xi) not possible to report without dis20 closing information, the unauthorized dis21 closure of which is prohibited by law;

22 (xii) made to an official in an agency

23 with regard to—
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1 (I) a judicial proceeding or a

2 criminal or civil law enforcement in3 quiry, investigation, or proceeding; or

4 (II) a filing or proceeding that

5 the Government is specifically re6 quired by statute or regulation to

7 maintain or conduct on a confidential

8 basis,

9 if that agency is charged with responsibil10 ity for such proceeding, inquiry, investiga11 tion, or filing;

12 (xiii) made in compliance with written

13 agency procedures regarding an adjudica14 tion conducted by the agency under section

15 554 of title 5, United States Code, or sub16 stantially similar provisions;

17 (xiv) a written comment filed in the

18 course of a public proceeding or any other

19 communication that is made on the record

20 in a public proceeding;

21 (xv) a petition for agency action made

22 in writing and required to be a matter of

23 public record pursuant to established agen24 cy procedures;
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1 (xvi) made on behalf of an individual

2 with regard to that individual’s benefits,

3 employment, or other personal matters in4 volving only that individual, except that

5 this clause does not apply to any commu6 nication with—

7 (I) a covered executive branch of8 ficial, or

9 (II) a covered legislative branch

10 official (other than the individual’s

11 elected Members of Congress or em12 ployees who work under such Mem13 bers’ direct supervision),

14 with respect to the formulation, modifica15 tion, or adoption of private legislation for

16 the relief of that individual;

17 (xvii) a disclosure by an individual

18 that is protected under the amendments

19 made by the Whistleblower Protection Act

20 of 1989, under the Inspector General Act

21 of 1978, or under another provision of law;

22 (xviii) made by—

23 (I) a church, its integrated auxil24 iary, or a convention or association of

25 churches that is exempt from filing a
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1 Federal income tax return under

2 paragraph 2(A)(i) of section 6033(a)

3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,

4 or

5 (II) a religious order that is ex6 empt from filing a Federal income tax

7 return under paragraph (2)(A)(iii) of

8 such section 6033(a); and

9 (xix) between—

10 (I) officials of a self-regulatory

11 organization (as defined in section

12 3(a)(26) of the Securities Exchange

13 Act) that is registered with or estab14 lished by the Securities and Exchange

15 Commission as required by that Act

16 or a similar organization that is des17 ignated by or registered with the

18 Commodities Future Trading Com19 mission as provided under the Com20 modity Exchange Act; and

21 (II) the Securities and Exchange

22 Commission or the Commodities Fu23 ture Trading Commission, respec24 tively;
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1 relating to the regulatory responsibilities of

2 such organization under that Act.

3 (9) LOBBYING FIRM.—The term ‘‘lobbying

4 firm’’ means a person or entity that has 1 or more

5 employees who are lobbyists on behalf of a client

6 other than that person or entity. The term also in7 cludes a self-employed individual who is a lobbyist.

8 (10) LOBBYIST.—The term ‘‘lobbyist’’ means

9 any individual who is employed or retained by a cli10 ent for financial or other compensation for services

11 that include more than one lobbying contact, other

12 than an individual whose lobbying activities con13 stitute less than 20 percent of the time engaged in

14 the services provided by such individual to that cli15 ent over a six month period.

16 (11) MEDIA ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘media

17 organization’’ means a person or entity engaged in

18 disseminating information to the general public

19 through a newspaper, magazine, other publication,

20 radio, television, cable television, or other medium of

21 mass communication.

22 (12) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—The term

23 ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means a Senator or a Rep24 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis25 sioner to, the Congress.
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1 (13) ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘organization’’

2 means a person or entity other than an individual.

3 (14) PERSON OR ENTITY.—The term ‘‘person

4 or entity’’ means any individual, corporation, com5 pany, foundation, association, labor organization,

6 firm, partnership, society, joint stock company,

7 group of organizations, or State or local government.

8 (15) PUBLIC OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘public offi9 cial’’ means any elected official, appointed official, or

10 employee of—

11 (A) a Federal, State, or local unit of gov12 ernment in the United States other than—

13 (i) a college or university;

14 (ii) a government-sponsored enterprise

15 (as defined in section 3(8) of the Congres16 sional Budget and Impoundment Control

17 Act of 1974);

18 (iii) a public utility that provides gas,

19 electricity, water, or communications;

20 (iv) a guaranty agency (as defined in

21 section 435(j) of the Higher Education Act

22 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1085(j))), including

23 any affiliate of such an agency; or

24 (v) an agency of any State functioning

25 as a student loan secondary market pursu-
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1 ant to section 435(d)(1)(F) of the Higher

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

3 1085(d)(1)(F));

4 (B) a Government corporation (as defined

5 in section 9101 of title 31, United States

6 Code);

7 (C) an organization of State or local elect8 ed or appointed officials other than officials of

9 an entity described in clause (i), (ii), (iii), (iv),

10 or (v) of subparagraph (A);

11 (D) an Indian tribe (as defined in section

12 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu13 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e));

14 (E) a national or State political party or

15 any organizational unit thereof; or

16 (F) a national, regional, or local unit of

17 any foreign government.

18 (16) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

19 the several States, the District of Columbia, and any

20 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United

21 States.

22 SEC. 4. REGISTRATION OF LOBBYISTS.

23 (a) REGISTRATION.—

24 (1) GENERAL RULE.—No later than 45 days

25 after a lobbyist first makes a lobbying contact or is
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1 employed or retained to make a lobbying contact,

2 whichever is earlier, such lobbyist (or, as provided

3 under paragraph (2), the organization employing

4 such lobbyist), shall register with the Secretary of

5 the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Represent6 atives.

7 (2) EMPLOYER FILING.—Any organization that

8 has 1 or more employees who are lobbyists shall file

9 a single registration under this section on behalf of

10 such employees for each client on whose behalf the

11 employees act as lobbyists.

12 (3) EXEMPTION.—

13 (A) GENERAL RULE.—Notwithstanding

14 paragraphs (1) and (2), a person or entity

15 whose—

16 (i) total income for matters related to

17 lobbying activities on behalf of a particular

18 client (in the case of a lobbying firm) does

19 not exceed and is not expected to exceed

20 $5,000; or

21 (ii) total expenses in connection with

22 lobbying activities (in the case of an orga23 nization whose employees engage in lobby24 ing activities on its own behalf) do not ex-
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1 ceed or are not expected to exceed

2 $20,000,

3 (as estimated under section 5) in the semi4 annual period described in section 5(a) during

5 which the registration would be made is not re6 quired to register under subsection (a) with re7 spect to such client.

8 (B) ADJUSTMENT.—The dollar amounts in

9 subparagraph (A) shall be adjusted—

10 (i) on January 1, 1997, to reflect

11 changes in the Consumer Price Index (as

12 determined by the Secretary of Labor)

13 since the date of enactment of this Act;

14 and

15 (ii) on January 1 of each fourth year

16 occurring after January 1, 1997, to reflect

17 changes in the Consumer Price Index (as

18 determined by the Secretary of Labor)

19 during the preceding 4-year period,

20 rounded to the nearest $500.

21 (b) CONTENTS OF REGISTRATION.—Each registra22 tion under this section shall contain—

23 (1) the name, address, business telephone num24 ber, and principal place of business of the registrant,
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1 and a general description of its business or activi2 ties;

3 (2) the name, address, and principal place of

4 business of the registrant’s client, and a general de5 scription of its business or activities (if different

6 from paragraph (1));

7 (3) the name, address, and principal place of

8 business of any organization, other than the client,

9 that—

10 (A) contributes more than $10,000 toward

11 the lobbying activities of the registrant in a

12 semiannual period described in section 5(a);

13 and

14 (B) in whole or in major part plans, super15 vises, or controls such lobbying activities.

16 (4) the name, address, principal place of busi17 ness, amount of any contribution of more than

18 $10,000 to the lobbying activities of the registrant,

19 and approximate percentage of equitable ownership

20 in the client (if any) of any foreign entity that—

21 (A) holds at least 20 percent equitable

22 ownership in the client or any organization

23 identified under paragraph (3);

24 (B) directly or indirectly, in whole or in

25 major part, plans, supervises, controls, directs,
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1 finances, or subsidizes the activities of the cli2 ent or any organization identified under para3 graph (3); or

4 (C) is an affiliate of the client or any orga5 nization identified under paragraph (3) and has

6 a direct interest in the outcome of the lobbying

7 activity;

8 (5) a statement of—

9 (A) the general issue areas in which the

10 registrant expects to engage in lobbying activi11 ties on behalf of the client; and

12 (B) to the extent practicable, specific is13 sues that have (as of the date of the registra14 tion) already been addressed or are likely to be

15 addressed in lobbying activities; and

16 (6) the name of each employee of the registrant

17 who has acted or whom the registrant expects to act

18 as a lobbyist on behalf of the client and, if any such

19 employee has served as a covered executive branch

20 official or a covered legislative branch official in the

21 2 years before the date on which such employee first

22 acted (after the date of enactment of this Act) as a

23 lobbyist on behalf of the client, the position in which

24 such employee served.

25 (c) GUIDELINES FOR REGISTRATION.—
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1 (1) MULTIPLE CLIENTS.—In the case of a reg2 istrant making lobbying contacts on behalf of more

3 than 1 client, a separate registration under this sec4 tion shall be filed for each such client.

5 (2) MULTIPLE CONTACTS.—A registrant who

6 makes more than 1 lobbying contact for the same

7 client shall file a single registration covering all such

8 lobbying contacts.

9 (d) TERMINATION OF REGISTRATION.—A registrant

10 who after registration—

11 (1) is no longer employed or retained by a cli12 ent to conduct lobbying activities, and

13 (2) does not anticipate any additional lobbying

14 activities for such client,

15 may so notify the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk

16 of the House of Representatives and terminate its reg17 istration.

18 SEC. 5. REPORTS BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS.

19 (a) SEMIANNUAL REPORT.—No later than 45 days

20 after the end of the semiannual period beginning on the

21 first day of each January and the first day of July of each

22 year in which a registrant is registered under section 4,

23 each registrant shall file a report with the Secretary of

24 the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives

25 on its lobbying activities during such semiannual period.
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1 A separate report shall be filed for each client of the reg2 istrant.

3 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each semiannual re4 port filed under subsection (a) shall contain—

5 (1) the name of the registrant, the name of the

6 client, and any changes or updates to the informa7 tion provided in the initial registration;

8 (2) for each general issue area in which the reg9 istrant engaged in lobbying activities on behalf of

10 the client during the semiannual filing period—

11 (A) a list of the specific issues upon which

12 a lobbyist employed by the registrant engaged

13 in lobbying activities, including, to the maxi14 mum extent practicable, a list of bill numbers

15 and references to specific executive branch

16 actions;

17 (B) a statement of the Houses of Congress

18 and the Federal agencies contacted by lobbyists

19 employed by the registrant on behalf of the

20 client;

21 (C) a list of the employees of the registrant

22 who acted as lobbyists on behalf of the client;

23 and

24 (D) a description of the interest, if any, of

25 any foreign entity identified under section
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1 4(b)(4) in the specific issues listed under sub2 paragraph (A).

3 (3) in the case of a lobbying firm, a good faith

4 estimate of the total amount of all income from the

5 client (including any payments to the registrant by

6 any other person for lobbying activities on behalf of

7 the client) during the semiannual period, other than

8 income for matters that are unrelated to lobbying

9 activities; and

10 (4) in the case of a registrant engaged in lobby11 ing activities on its own behalf, a good faith estimate

12 of the total expenses that the registrant and its em13 ployees incurred in connection with lobbying activi14 ties during the semiannual filing period.

15 (c) ESTIMATES OF INCOME OR EXPENSES.—For pur16 poses of this section, estimates of income or expenses shall

17 be made as follows:

18 (1) Estimates of amounts in excess of $10,000

19 shall be rounded to the nearest $20,000.

20 (2) In the event income or expenses do not ex21 ceed $10,000, the registrant shall include a state22 ment that income or expenses totaled less than

23 $10,000 for the reporting period.

24 (3) A registrant that reports lobbying expendi25 tures pursuant to section 6033(b)(8) of the Internal
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1 Revenue Code of 1986 may satisfy the requirement

2 to report income or expenses by filing with the Sec3 retary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of

4 Representatives a copy of the form filed in accord5 ance with section 6033(b)(8).

6 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE AND ENFORCEMENT.

7 The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the

8 House of Representatives shall—

9 (1) provide guidance and assistance on the reg10 istration and reporting requirements of this Act and

11 develop common standards, rules, and procedures for

12 compliance with this Act;

13 (2) review, and, where necessary, verify and in14 quire to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and

15 timeliness of registration and reports;

16 (3) develop filing, coding, and cross-indexing

17 systems to carry out the purpose of this Act, includ18 ing—

19 (A) a publicly available list of all registered

20 lobbyists, lobbying firms, and their clients; and

21 (B) computerized systems designed to min22 imize the burden of filing and maximize public

23 access to materials filed under this Act;
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1 (4) make available for public inspection and

2 copying at reasonable times the registrations and re3 ports filed under this Act;

4 (5) retain registrations for a period of at least

5 6 years after they are terminated and reports for a

6 period of at least 6 years after they are filed;

7 (6) compile and summarize, with respect to

8 each semiannual period, the information contained

9 in registrations and reports filed with respect to

10 such period in a clear and complete manner;

11 (7) notify any lobbyist or lobbying firm in writ12 ing that may be in noncompliance with this Act; and

13 (8) notify the United States Attorney for the

14 District of Columbia that a lobbyist or lobbying firm

15 may be in noncompliance with this Act, if the reg16 istrant has been notified in writing and has failed to

17 provide an appropriate response within 60 days after

18 notice was given under paragraph (6).

19 SEC. 7. PENALTIES.

20 Whoever knowingly fails to—

21 (1) remedy a defective filing within 60 days

22 after notice of such a defect by the Secretary of the

23 Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives;

24 or
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1 (2) comply with any other provision of this Act;

2 shall, upon proof of such knowing violation by a pre3 ponderance of the evidence, be subject to a civil fine

4 of not more than $50,000, depending on the extent

5 and gravity of the violation.

6 SEC. 8. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

7 (a) CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act

8 shall be construed to prohibit or interfere with—

9 (1) the right to petition the government for the

10 redress of grievances;

11 (2) the right to express a personal opinion; or

12 (3) the right of association,

13 protected by the first amendment to the Constitution.

14 (b) PROHIBITION OF ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in this

15 Act shall be construed to prohibit, or to authorize any

16 court to prohibit, lobbying activities or lobbying contacts

17 by any person or entity, regardless of whether such person

18 or entity is in compliance with the requirements of this

19 Act.

20 (c) AUDIT AND INVESTIGATIONS.—Nothing in this

21 Act shall be construed to grant general audit or investiga22 tive authority to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk

23 of the House of Representatives.
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1 SEC. 9. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN AGENTS REG2 ISTRATION ACT.

3 The Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22

4 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) is amended—

5 (1) in section 1—

6 (A) by striking subsection (j);

7 (B) in subsection (o) by striking ‘‘the dis8 semination of political propaganda and any

9 other activity which the person engaging therein

10 believes will, or which he intends to, prevail

11 upon, indoctrinate, convert, induce, persuade,

12 or in any other way influence’’ and inserting

13 ‘‘any activity that the person engaging in be14 lieves will, or that the person intends to, in any

15 way influence’’;

16 (C) in subsection (p) by striking the semi17 colon and inserting a period; and

18 (D) by striking subsection (q);

19 (2) in section 3(g) (22 U.S.C. 613(g)), by strik20 ing ‘‘established agency proceedings, whether formal

21 or informal.’’ and inserting ‘‘judicial proceedings,

22 criminal or civil law enforcement inquiries, investiga23 tions, or proceedings, or agency proceedings required

24 by statute or regulation to be conducted on the

25 record.’’;
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1 (3) in section 3 (22 U.S.C. 613) by adding at

2 the end the following:

3 ‘‘(h) Any agent of a person described in section

4 1(b)(2) or an entity described in section 1(b)(3) if the

5 agent is required to register and does register under the

6 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 in connection with the

7 agent’s representation of such person or entity.’’;

8 (4) in section 4(a) (22 U.S.C. 614(a))—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘political propaganda’’ and

10 inserting ‘‘informational materials’’; and

11 (B) by striking ‘‘and a statement, duly

12 signed by or on behalf of such an agent, setting

13 forth full information as to the places, times,

14 and extent of such transmittal’’;

15 (5) in section 4(b) (22 U.S.C. 614(b))—

16 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by

17 striking ‘‘political propaganda’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘informational materials’’; and

19 (B) by striking ‘‘(i) in the form of prints,

20 or’’ and all that follows through the end of the

21 subsection and inserting ‘‘without placing in

22 such informational materials a conspicuous

23 statement that the materials are distributed by

24 the agent on behalf of the foreign principal, and

25 that additional information is on file with the
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1 Department of Justice, Washington, District of

2 Columbia. The Attorney General may by rule

3 define what constitutes a conspicuous statement

4 for the purposes of this subsection.’’;

5 (6) in section 4(c) (22 U.S.C. 614(c)), by strik6 ing ‘‘political propaganda’’ and inserting ‘‘informa7 tional materials’’;

8 (7) in section 6 (22 U.S.C. 616)—

9 (A) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘and all

10 statements concerning the distribution of politi11 cal propaganda’’;

12 (B) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘, and

13 one copy of every item of political propaganda’’;

14 and

15 (C) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘copies of

16 political propaganda,’’;

17 (8) in section 8 (22 U.S.C. 618)—

18 (A) in subsection (a)(2) by striking ‘‘or in

19 any statement under section 4(a) hereof con20 cerning the distribution of political propa21 ganda’’; and

22 (B) by striking subsection (d); and

23 (9) in section 11 (22 U.S.C. 621) by striking

24 ‘‘, including the nature, sources, and content of po25 litical propaganda disseminated or distributed’’.
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1 SEC. 10. AMENDMENTS TO THE BYRD AMENDMENT.

2 (a) REVISED CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Sec3 tion 1352(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—

4 (1) in paragraph (2) by striking subparagraphs

5 (A), (B), and (C) and inserting the following:

6 ‘‘(A) the name of any registrant under the

7 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 who has made

8 lobbying contacts on behalf of the person with

9 respect to that Federal contract, grant, loan, or

10 cooperative agreement; and

11 ‘‘(B) a certification that the person making

12 the declaration has not made, and will not

13 make, any payment prohibited by subsection

14 (a).’’;

15 (2) in paragraph (3) by striking all that follows

16 ‘‘loan shall contain’’ and inserting ‘‘the name of any

17 registrant under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of

18 1995 who has made lobbying contacts on behalf of

19 the person in connection with that loan insurance or

20 guarantee.’’; and

21 (3) by striking paragraph (6) and redesignating

22 paragraph (7) as paragraph (6).

23 (b) REMOVAL OF OBSOLETE REPORTING REQUIRE24 MENT.—Section 1352 of title 31, United States Code, is

25 further amended—

26 (1) by striking subsection (d); and
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1 (2) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), (g),

2 and (h) as subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g), respec3 tively.

4 SEC. 11. REPEAL OF CERTAIN LOBBYING PROVISIONS.

5 (a) REPEAL OF THE FEDERAL REGULATION OF LOB6 BYING ACT.—The Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (2

7 U.S.C. 261 et seq.) is repealed.

8 (b) REPEAL OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO HOUSING

9 LOBBYIST ACTIVITIES.—

10 (1) Section 13 of the Department of Housing

11 and Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3537b) is

12 repealed.

13 (2) Section 536(d) of the Housing Act of 1949

14 (42 U.S.C. 1490p(d)) is repealed.

15 SEC. 12. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO OTHER STATUTES.

16 (a) AMENDMENT TO COMPETITIVENESS POLICY

17 COUNCIL ACT.—Section 5206(e) of the Competitiveness

18 Policy Council Act (15 U.S.C. 4804(e)) is amended by in19 serting ‘‘or a lobbyist for a foreign entity (as the terms

20 ‘lobbyist’ and ‘foreign entity’ are defined under section 3

21 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995)’’ after ‘‘an agent

22 for a foreign principal’’.

23 (b) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 18, UNITED STATES

24 CODE.—Section 219(a) of title 18, United States Code,

25 is amended—
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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘or a lobbyist required to reg2 ister under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 in

3 connection with the representation of a foreign en4 tity, as defined in section 3(7) of that Act’’ after

5 ‘‘an agent of a foreign principal required to register

6 under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of

7 1938’’; and

8 (2) by striking out ‘‘, as amended,’’.

9 (c) AMENDMENT TO FOREIGN SERVICE ACT OF

10 1980.—Section 602(c) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980

11 (22 U.S.C. 4002(c)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or a lobby12 ist for a foreign entity (as defined in section 3(7) of the

13 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995)’’ after ‘‘an agent of a

14 foreign principal (as defined by section 1(b) of the Foreign

15 Agents Registration Act of 1938)’’.

16 SEC. 13. SEVERABILITY.

17 If any provision of this Act, or the application there18 of, is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this

19 Act and the application of such provision to other persons

20 and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

21 SEC. 14. IDENTIFICATION OF CLIENTS AND COVERED OFFI22 CIALS.

23 (a) ORAL LOBBYING CONTACTS.—Any person or en24 tity that makes an oral lobbying contact with a covered

25 legislative branch official or a covered executive branch of-
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1 ficial shall, on the request of the official at the time of

2 the lobbying contact—

3 (1) state whether the person or entity is reg4 istered under this Act and identify the client on

5 whose behalf the lobbying contact is made; and

6 (2) state whether such client is a foreign entity

7 and identify any foreign entity required to be dis8 closed under section 4(b)(4) that has a direct inter9 est in the outcome of the lobbying activity.

10 (b) WRITTEN LOBBYING CONTACTS.—Any person or

11 entity registered under this Act that makes a written lob12 bying contact (including an electronic communication)

13 with a covered legislative branch official or a covered exec14 utive branch official shall—

15 (1) if the client on whose behalf the lobbying

16 contact was made is a foreign entity, identify such

17 client, state that the client is considered a foreign

18 entity under this Act, and state whether the person

19 making the lobbying contact is registered on behalf

20 of that client under section 4; and

21 (2) identify any other foreign entity identified

22 pursuant to section 4(b)(4) that has a direct interest

23 in the outcome of the lobbying activity.

24 (c) IDENTIFICATION AS COVERED OFFICIAL.—Upon

25 request by a person or entity making a lobbying contact,
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1 the individual who is contacted or the office employing

2 that individual shall indicate whether or not the individual

3 is a covered legislative branch official or a covered execu4 tive branch official.

5 SEC. 15. ESTIMATES BASED ON TAX REPORTING SYSTEM.

6 (a) ENTITIES COVERED BY SECTION 6033(b) OF THE

7 INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.—A registrant that

8 is required to report and does report lobbying expenditures

9 pursuant to section 6033(b)(8) of the Internal Revenue

10 Code of 1986 may—

11 (1) make a good faith estimate (by category of

12 dollar value) of applicable amounts that would be re13 quired to be disclosed under such section for the ap14 propriate semiannual period to meet the require15 ments of sections 4(a)(3), 5(a)(2), and 5(b)(4); and

16 (2) in lieu of using the definition of ‘‘lobbying

17 activities’’ in section 3(8) of this Act, consider as

18 lobbying activities only those activities that are influ19 encing legislation as defined in section 4911(d) of

20 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

21 (b) ENTITIES COVERED BY SECTION 162(e) OF THE

22 INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.—A registrant that

23 is subject to section 162(e) of the Internal Revenue Code

24 of 1986 may—
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1 (1) make a good faith estimate (by category of

2 dollar value) of applicable amounts that would not

3 be deductible pursuant to such section for the appro4 priate semiannual period to meet the requirements

5 of sections 4(a)(3), 5(a)(2), and 5(b)(4); and

6 (2) in lieu of using the definition of ‘‘lobbying

7 activities’’ in section 3(8) of this Act, consider as

8 lobbying activities only those activities, the costs of

9 which are not deductible pursuant to section 162(e)

10 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

11 (c) DISCLOSURE OF ESTIMATE.—Any registrant that

12 elects to make estimates required by this Act under the

13 procedures authorized by subsection (a) or (b) for report14 ing or threshold purposes shall—

15 (1) inform the Secretary of the Senate and the

16 Clerk of the House of Representatives that the reg17 istrant has elected to make its estimates under such

18 procedures; and

19 (2) make all such estimates, in a given calendar

20 year, under such procedures.

21 (d) STUDY.—Not later than March 31, 1997, the

22 Comptroller General of the United States shall review re23 porting by registrants under subsections (a) and (b) and

24 report to the Congress—
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1 (1) the differences between the definition of

2 ‘‘lobbying activities’’ in section 3(8) and the defini3 tions of ‘‘lobbying expenditures’’, ‘‘influencing legis4 lation’’, and related terms in sections 162(e) and

5 4911 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as each

6 are implemented by regulations;

7 (2) the impact that any such differences may

8 have on filing and reporting under this Act pursuant

9 to this subsection; and

10 (3) any changes to this Act or to the appro11 priate sections of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

12 that the Comptroller General may recommend to

13 harmonize the definitions.

14 SEC. 16. REPEAL OF THE RAMSPECK ACT.

15 (a) REPEAL.—Subsection (c) of section 3304 of title

16 5, United States Code, is repealed.

17 (b) REDESIGNATION.—Subsection (d) of section 3304

18 of title 5, United States Code, is redesignated as sub19 section (c).

20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal and amendment

21 made by this section shall take effect 2 years after the

22 date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 17. EXCEPTED SERVICE AND OTHER EXPERIENCE

2 CONSIDERATIONS FOR COMPETITIVE SERV3 ICE APPOINTMENTS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3304 of title 5, United

5 States Code (as amended by section 2 of this Act) is fur6 ther amended by adding at the end thereof the following

7 new subsection:

8 ‘‘(d) The Office of Personnel Management shall pro9 mulgate regulations on the manner and extent that experi10 ence of an individual in a position other than the competi11 tive service, such as the excepted service (as defined under

12 section 2103) in the legislative or judicial branch, or in

13 any private or nonprofit enterprise, may be considered in

14 making appointments to a position in the competitive serv15 ice (as defined under section 2102). In promulgating such

16 regulations OPM shall not grant any preference based on

17 the fact of service in the legislative or judicial branch. The

18 regulations shall be consistent with the principles of equi19 table competition and merit based appointments.’’.

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

21 this section shall take effect 2 years after the date of the

22 enactment of this Act, except the Office of Personnel Man23 agement shall—

24 (1) conduct a study on excepted service consid25 erations for competitive service appointments relat26 ing to such amendment; and
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1 (2) take all necessary actions for the regula2 tions described under such amendment to take effect

3 as final regulations on the effective date of this sec4 tion.

5 SEC. 18. EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.

6 An organization described in section 501(c)(4) of the

7 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which engages in lobbying

8 activities shall not be eligible for the receipt of Federal

9 funds constituting an award, grant, contract, loan, or any

10 other form.

11 SEC. 19. AMENDMENT TO THE FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRA12 TION ACT (PUBLIC LAW 75–583).

13 Strike section 11 of the Foreign Agents Registration

14 Act of 1938, as amended, and insert in lieu thereof the

15 following:

16 ‘‘SECTION 11. REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.—The

17 Attorney General shall every six months report to the Con18 gress concerning administration of this Act, including reg19 istrations filed pursuant to the Act, and the nature,

20 sources and content of political propaganda disseminated

21 and distributed.’’.

22 SEC. 20. DISCLOSURE OF THE VALUE OF ASSETS UNDER

23 THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978.

24 (a) INCOME.—Section 102(a)(1)(B) of the Ethics in

25 Government Act of 1978 is amended—
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1 (1) in clause (vii) by striking ‘‘or’’; and

2 (2) by striking clause (viii) and inserting the

3 following:

4 ‘‘(viii) greater than $1,000,000 but not

5 more than $5,000,000, or

6 ‘‘(ix) greater than $5,000,000.’’.

7 (b) ASSETS AND LIABILITIES.—Section 102(d)(1) of

8 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is amended—

9 (1) in subparagraph (F) by striking ‘‘and’’; and

10 (2) by striking subparagraph (G) and inserting

11 the following:

12 ‘‘(G) greater than $1,000,000 but not

13 more than $5,000,000;

14 ‘‘(H) greater than $5,000,000 but not

15 more than $25,000,000;

16 ‘‘(I) greater than $25,000,000 but not

17 more than $50,000,000; and

18 ‘‘(J) greater than $50,000,000.’’.

19 (c) EXCEPTION.—Section 102(e)(1) of the Ethics in

20 Government Act of 1978 is amended by adding after sub21 paragraph (E) the following:

22 ‘‘(F) For purposes of this section, cat23 egories with amounts or values greater than

24 $1,000,000 set forth in sections 102(a)(1)(B)

25 and 102(d)(1) shall apply to the income, assets,
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1 or liabilities of spouses and dependent children

2 only if the income, assets, or liabilities are held

3 jointly with the reporting individual. All other

4 income, assets, or liabilities of the spouse or de5 pendent children required to be reported under

6 this section in an amount or value greater than

7 $1,000,000 shall be categorized only as an

8 amount or value greater than $1,000,000.’’.

9 SEC. 21. BAN ON TRADE REPRESENTATIVE REPRESENTING

10 OR ADVISING FOREIGN ENTITIES.

11 (a) REPRESENTING AFTER SERVICE.—Section

12 207(f)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by—

13 (1) inserting ‘‘or Deputy United States Trade

14 Representative’’ after ‘‘is the United States Trade

15 Representative’’; and

16 (2) striking ‘‘within 3 years’’ and inserting ‘‘at

17 any time’’.

18 (b) LIMITATION ON APPOINTMENT AS UNITED

19 STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE AND DEPUTY UNITED

20 STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE.—Section 141(b) of the

21 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2171(b)) is amended by

22 adding at the end the following new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON APPOINTMENTS.—A per24 son who has directly represented, aided, or advised

25 a foreign entity (as defined by section 207(f)(3) of
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1 title 18, United States Code) in any trade negotia2 tion, or trade dispute, with the United States may

3 not be appointed as United States Trade Represent4 ative or as a Deputy United States Trade Rep5 resentative.’’.

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

7 this section shall apply with respect to an individual ap8 pointed as United States Trade Representative or as a

9 Deputy United States Trade Representative on or after

10 the date of enactment of this Act.

11 SEC. 22. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST IN QUALI12 FIED BLIND TRUST.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(a) of the Ethics in

14 Government Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end

15 thereof the following:

16 ‘‘(8) The category of the total cash value of any

17 interest of the reporting individual in a qualified

18 blind trust, unless the trust instrument was executed

19 prior to July 24, 1995 and precludes the beneficiary

20 from receiving information on the total cash value of

21 any interest in the qualified blind trust.’’.

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 102(d)(1)

23 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is amended by

24 striking ‘‘and (5) and inserting ‘‘(5), and (8)’’.

25 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the amendment made by this section shall

3 apply with respect to reports filed under title I of

4 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 for calendar

5 year 1996 and thereafter.

6 SEC. 23. SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT LOBBYING EXPENSES

7 SHOULD REMAIN NONDEDUCTIBLE.

8 (a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that ordinary

9 Americans generally are not allowed to deduct the costs

10 of communicating with their elected representatives.

11 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the

12 Senate that lobbying expenses should not be tax deduct13 ible.

14 SEC. 24. EFFECTIVE DATES.

15 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this

16 Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take ef17 fect on January 1, 1996.

18 (b) The repeals and amendments made under sec19 tions 13, 14, 15, and 16 shall take effect as provided

20 under subsection (a), except that such repeals and amend21 ments—

22 (1) shall not affect any proceeding or suit com23 menced before the effective date under subsection

24 (a), and in all such proceedings or suits, proceedings

25 shall be had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered
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1 in the same manner and with the same effect as if

2 this Act had not been enacted; and

3 (2) shall not affect the requirements of Federal

4 agencies to compile, publish, and retain information

5 filed or received before the effective date of such re6 peals and amendments.

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