U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

79–010 

" ! SENATE 115TH CONGRESS

2d Session 

REPORT

2018

115–317 

Calendar No. 552 

JUSTICE AGAINST CORRUPTION ON 

K STREET ACT OF 2018 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

S. 2896 

TO REQUIRE DISCLOSURE BY LOBBYISTS OF CONVICTIONS FOR 

BRIBERY, EXTORTION, EMBEZZLEMENT, ILLEGAL KICKBACKS, 

TAX EVASION, FRAUD, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, MAKING FALSE 

STATEMENTS, PERJURY, OR MONEY LAUNDERING 

AUGUST 15, 2018.—Ordered to be printed 


E:\Seals\Congress.#13
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire 

KAMALA D. HARRIS, California 

DOUG JONES, Alabama 

CHRISTOPHER R. HIXON, Staff Director 

GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Chief Counsel 

PATRICK J. BAILEY, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs 

MARGARET E. DAUM, Minority Staff Director 

CHARLES A. MOSKOWITZ, Minority Senior Legislative Counsel 

KATHERINE C. SYBENGA, Minority Counsel 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 

79–010 

Calendar No. 552 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 115–317 

JUSTICE AGAINST CORRUPTION ON K STREET ACT OF 

2018 

AUGUST 15, 2018.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 2896] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (S. 2896) to require disclosure by lobbyists of convictions for bribery, extortion, embezzlement, illegal 

kickbacks, tax evasion, fraud, conflicts of interest, making false 

statements, perjury or money laundering, having considered the 

same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 2 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 2 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 2 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 3 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 3 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 4 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

S. 2896, the Justice Against Corruption on K Street Act of 2018, 

or the ‘‘JACK Act’’, seeks to provide greater transparency and accountability in lobbying disclosures related to the commission of 

certain crimes of character. The bill requires lobbyists to publicly 

disclose any convictions for bribery, extortion, embezzlement, illegal kickbacks, tax evasion, fraud, conflicts of interest, making false 

statements, perjury, or money laundering. 

2 

1Lobbying Disclosure Act, 2 U.S.C. § 1601 (1995). 

2 Id. at § 1603. 3 Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, Pub. L. No. 110–81 (2007). 

4Ginger Gibson, Convicted Felon Jack Abramoff Registers to Return to Lobbying, Reuters 

(June 23, 2017 5:31 PM), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-politics-abramoff/convictedfelon-jack-abramoff-registers-to-return-to-lobbying-idUSKBN19E2JN. 

II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

In 1995, Congress passed the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), 

which sought to increase accountability for Federal lobbying practices in the United States.1 The LDA requires lobbyists to register 

with both the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and the 

Secretary of the U.S. Senate within 45 days of making a lobbying 

contact or becoming employed to make a lobbying contact.2

In 2007, following the conviction of lobbyist Jack Abramoff for 

trading expensive gifts to members of Congress and staff in exchange for political favors, Congress enacted new requirements for 

lobbyists in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act 

(HLOGA).3

In 2017, Mr. Abramoff again registered as a lobbyist, working on 

behalf of the Republic of Congo.4 Under current law, there is no requirement that Abramoff, or any other lobbyist, include information regarding prior criminal convictions in his or her lobbying disclosures. 

S. 2896 would require lobbyists with convictions for bribery, extortion, embezzlement, and other crimes of character to disclose 

that criminal history in their lobbying disclosures. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Senator John Kennedy (R–LA) introduced S. 2896 on May 22, 

2018, with Senator Joe Manchin (D–WV). The bill was referred to 

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. 

The Committee considered S. 2896 at a June 13, 2018, business 

meeting. The Committee ordered S. 2896 reported favorably en bloc 

by voice vote. Senators present for the vote were Johnson, 

Portman, Lankford, Enzi, McCaskill, Carper, Peters, Hassan, Harris, and Jones. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title 

This section establishes the short title of the bill as the ‘‘Justice 

Against Corruption on K Street Act of 2018’’ or the ‘‘JACK Act.’’ 

Section 2. Disclosure of corrupt malpractice by lobbyists 

This section amends the LDA to require that any new registrant 

convicted in a Federal or state court of an offense involving bribery, 

extortion, embezzlement, an illegal kickback, tax evasion, fraud, a 

conflict of interest, making a false statement, perjury, or money 

laundering to include in his or her lobbying registration the date 

and a description of such offense. It also requires that existing registrants include the same information in their quarterly reporting. 

3 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill and determined that the bill will 

have no regulatory impact within the meaning of the rules. The 

Committee agrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s statement that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 

would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, June 27, 2018. 

Hon. RON JOHNSON, 

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2896, the JACK Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

S. 2896—JACK Act 

S. 2896 would amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require registered lobbyists to file new reports with the Secretary of 

the U.S. Senate and Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

The reports would provide information on any convictions for bribery, extortion, embezzlement, illegal kickbacks, tax evasion, fraud, 

conflicts of interest, making false statements, perjury, or money 

laundering. Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, CBO 

estimates that implementing the bill would increase administrative 

costs of the House of Representatives and the Senate by less than 

$500,000 annually. 

Enacting S. 2896 could increase civil penalties for failing to file 

accurate reports. Penalties are recorded in the budget as revenues; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates 

that any increase in revenues would not be significant because we 

expect few lobbyists would be affected. Enacting S. 2896 would not 

affect direct spending. 

CBO estimates that enacting S. 2896 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2029. 

S. 2896 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring registrants 

under the Lobbying Disclosure Act to disclose information about 

convictions for certain crimes. CBO estimates that the cost of including this additional information would be minimal and would 

not exceed the threshold established in UMRA for private-sector 

mandates ($160 million in 2018, adjusted annually for inflation). 

4 

The bill contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in 

UMRA. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew Pickford 

(for federal costs) and Andrew Laughlin (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director for Budget 

Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill, as 

reported, are shown as follows: (existing law proposed to be omitted 

is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in italic, and existing 

law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

UNITED STATES CODE 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE 2—THE CONGRESS 

* * * * * * * 

CHAPTER 26—DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES 

* * * * * * * 

The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1603. REGISTRATION OF LOBBYISTS. 

(a) * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(5) * * * 

(A) * * * 

(B) to the extent practicable, specific issues that have (as 

of the date of registration) already been addressed or are 

likely to be addressed in lobbying activities; øand¿ 

(6) the name of each employee of the registrant who has 

acted or whom the registrant expects to act as a lobbyist on behalf of the client and, if any such employee has served as a 

covered executive branch official or a covered legislative branch 

official in the 20 years before the date on which the employee 

first acted as a lobbyist on behalf of the client, the position in 

which such employee servedø.¿; and 

(7) for any registrant who was convicted in a Federal or State 

court of an offense involving bribery, extortion, embezzlement, 

an illegal kickback, tax evasion, fraud, a conflict of interest, 

making a false statement, perjury, or money laundering, the 

date of the conviction and a description of the offense. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1604. REPORTS BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS. 

(a) * * * 

5 

(b) * * * 

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(4) in the case of a registrant engaged in lobbying activities 

on its own behalf, a good faith estimate of the total expenses 

that the registrant and its employees incurred in connection 

with lobbying activities during the quarterly period; øand¿ 

(5) for each client, immediately after listing the client, an 

identification of whether the client is a State or local government or a department, agency, special purpose district, or 

other instrumentality controlled by one or more State or local 

governments. ø.¿; and 

(6) for any registrant who was convicted in a Federal or State 

court of an offense involving bribery, extortion, embezzlement, 

an illegal kickback, tax evasion, fraud, a conflict of interest, 

making a false statement, perjury, or money laundering, the 

date of the conviction and a description of the offense. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ