II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3272 

To provide greater controls and restrictions on revolving door lobbying. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 28, 2010 

Mr. BENNET introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide greater controls and restrictions on revolving door 

lobbying. 

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 ‘‘Close the Revolving 

5 Door Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIFETIME BAN ON MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM 

7 LOBBYING. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 207(e)(1) of title 18, 

9 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(1) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Any person 

11 who is a Senator, a Member of the House of RepVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:06 Apr 29, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3272.IS S3272

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1 resentatives or an elected officer of the Senate or the 

2 House of Representatives and who after that person 

3 leaves office, knowingly makes, with the intent to in4 fluence, any communication to or appearance before 

5 any Member, officer, or employee of either House of 

6 Congress or any employee of any other legislative of7 fice of the Congress, on behalf of any other person 

8 (except the United States) in connection with any 

9 matter on which such former Senator, Member, or 

10 elected official seeks action by a Member, officer, or 

11 employee of either House of Congress, in his or her 

12 official capacity, shall be punished as provided in 

13 section 216 of this title.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 207(e)(2) 

15 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) in the caption, by striking ‘‘Officers and 

17 staff’’ and inserting ‘‘Staff’’; and 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘an elected officer of the Senate, 

19 or’’. 

20 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL STAFF. 

21 Paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5)(A), and (6)(A) of sec22 tion 207(e) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

23 by striking ‘‘1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘6 years’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. IMPROVED REPORTING OF LOBBYISTS ACTIVITIES. 

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

3 U.S.C. 1605) is amended by inserting at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(c) JOINT WEB SITE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Sen7 ate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives 

8 shall maintain a joint lobbyist disclosure Internet 

9 database for information required to be publicly dis10 closed under this Act which shall be an easily 

11 searchable Web site called lobbyists.gov with a stat12 ed goal of simplicity of usage. 

13 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this subsection $100,000 for fiscal year 2011.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. LOBBYIST REVOLVING DOOR TO CONGRESS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who is a registered 

18 lobbyist or an agent of a foreign principal may not within 

19 6 years after that person leaves such position be hired by 

20 a Member or committee of either House of Congress with 

21 whom the registered lobbyist or an agent of a foreign prin22 cipal has had substantial lobbying contact. 

23 (b) WAIVER.—This section may be waived in the Sen24 ate or the House of Representatives by the Committee on 

25 Ethics or the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct 

26 based on a compelling national need. 


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1 (c) SUBSTANTIAL LOBBYING CONTACT.—For pur2 poses of this section, in determining whether a registered 

3 lobbyist or agent of a foreign principal has had substantial 

4 lobbying contact within the applicable period of time, the 

5 Member or committee of either House of Congress shall 

6 take into consideration whether the individual’s lobbying 

7 contacts have pertained to pending legislative business, or 

8 related to solicitation of an earmark or other Federal 

9 funding, particularly if such contacts included the coordi10 nation of meetings with the Member or staff, involved 

11 presentations to staff, or participation in fundraising ex12 ceeding the mere giving of a personal contribution. Simple 

13 social contacts with the Member or committee of either 

14 House of Congress and staff, shall not by themselves con15 stitute substantial lobbying contacts. 

16 SEC. 6. PAYMENT FOR CHARTER FLIGHTS BY CAMPAIGN 

17 FUNDS AND DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN AIR 

18 TRAVEL WITH A LOBBYIST BY A SENATOR. 

19 (a) CLARIFICATION OF RULES ON USE OF CAMPAIGN

20 FUNDS FOR FLIGHTS ON COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

22 313(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

23 1971 (2 U.S.C. 439a(c)) is amended— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘a candidate for election 

25 for Federal office (other than a candidate who 


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1 is subject to paragraph (2)), or any authorized 

2 committee of such a candidate, may not make 

3 any expenditure for a flight on an aircraft’’ in 

4 the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and in5 serting ‘‘in the case of a candidate for election 

6 to Federal office (other than a candidate who is 

7 subject to paragraph (2)), no political com8 mittee may make any expenditure for travel by 

9 such a candidate, or for travel on behalf of such 

10 a candidate, by means of a flight on an aircraft 

11 (regardless of whether such travel is in connec12 tion with an election for Federal office)’’, and 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘candidate, the authorized 

14 committee, or other’’ in subparagraph (B). 

15 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

16 by this subsection shall apply to flights taken on or 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (b) DISCLOSURE.—Paragraph 2(e)(1) of rule XXXV 

19 of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended— 

20 (1) in subclause (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

21 the semicolon; 

22 (2) by inserting after subclause (D) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(E) the source will submit a list of the names 

25 of any registered lobbyist or an agent of a foreign 


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1 principal on the trip not later than 30 days after the 

2 trip; and’’. 

3 SEC. 7. BAN ON LOBBYISTS MAKING CASH CAMPAIGN CON4 TRIBUTIONS. 

5 Section 321 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

6 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441g) is amended by— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

10 (b), no person’’; and 

11 (2) inserting at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(b) LOBBYIST.— 

13 ‘‘(1) TOTAL BAN.—If the person described in 

14 subsection (a) is a lobbyist, the amount referred to 

15 in subsection (a) shall be zero. 

16 ‘‘(2) LOBBYIST.—In this subsection, the term 

17 ‘lobbyist’ shall have the same meaning given such 

18 term in section 3(10) of the Lobbying Disclosure 

19 Act of 1995.’’. 

20 SEC. 8. REPORTING BY SUBSTANTIAL LOBBYING ENTITIES. 

21 The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 

22 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 6 the fol23 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 6A. REPORTING BY SUBSTANTIAL LOBBYING ENTI2 TIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A substantial lobbying entity 

4 shall file on an annual basis with the Clerk of the House 

5 of Representatives and the Secretary of the United States 

6 Senate a list of any employee, individual under contract, 

7 or individual who provides paid consulting services who 

8 is— 

9 ‘‘(1) a former United States Senator or a 

10 former Member of the United States House of Rep11 resentatives; or 

12 ‘‘(2) a former congressional staff person who— 

13 ‘‘(A) made at least $100,000 in any 1 year 

14 as a congressional staff person; 

15 ‘‘(B) worked for a total of 4 years or more 

16 as a congressional staff person; or 

17 ‘‘(C) had a job title at any time while em18 ployed as a congressional staff person that con19 tained any of the following terms: ‘Chief of 

20 Staff’, ‘Legislative Director’, ‘Staff Director’, 

21 ‘Counsel’, ‘Professional Staff Member’, ‘Com22 munications Director’, or ‘Press Secretary’. 

23 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF FILING.—The filing required by 

24 this section shall contain a brief job description of each 

25 such employee, individual under contract, or individual 

26 who provides paid consulting services, and an explanation 


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1 of their work experience under subsection (a) that requires 

2 this filing. 

3 ‘‘(c) IMPROVED REPORTING OF SUBSTANTIAL LOB4 BYING ENTITIES.—The Joint Web site being maintained 

5 by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House 

6 of Representatives, known as lobbyists.gov, shall include 

7 an easily searchable database entitled ‘Substantial Lob8 bying Entities’ that includes qualifying employees, individ9 uals under contract, or individuals who provide paid con10 sulting services, under subsection (a). 

11 ‘‘(d) LAW ENFORCEMENT OVERSIGHT.—The Clerk 

12 of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the 

13 Senate shall provide a copy of the filings of substantial 

14 lobbying entities to the District of Columbia United States 

15 Attorney, to allow the District of Columbia United States 

16 Attorney to determine whether any such entities are 

17 underreporting the Federal lobbying activities of its em18 ployees, individuals under contract, or individuals who 

19 provide paid consulting services. 

20 ‘‘(e) SUBSTANTIAL LOBBYING ENTITY.—In this sec21 tion, the term ‘substantial lobbying entity’ means an incor22 porated entity that employs more than 3 federally reg23 istered lobbyists during a filing period.’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. ENHANCED PENALTIES. 

2 Section 7(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

3 (2 U.S.C. 1606(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘$200,000’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘$500,000’’. 

Æ 


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