I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5101

To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide greater 

legislative input from the minority, to provide more time for Members 

to read legislation before its consideration, and to improve House oversight of the executive branch, to amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act 

of 1995 to improve lobbying disclosure, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2004

Mr. MEEHAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, 

Standards of Official Conduct, and House Administration, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL

To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to 

provide greater legislative input from the minority, to 

provide more time for Members to read legislation before 

its consideration, and to improve House oversight of 

the executive branch, to amend the Lobbying Disclosure 

Act of 1995 to improve lobbying disclosure, 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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy in Congress 

3 Act of 2004’’. 

4 TITLE I—REFORMING THE 

5 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

6 SEC. 101. SAME-DAY CONSIDERATION OF RULES COM7 MITTEE REPORTS. 

8 In rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representa9 tives, clause 6(a) is amended by striking ‘‘the same day’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘the same calendar day or less than 17 

11 hours after that’’. 

12 SEC. 102. MAXIMUM VOTING TIME. 

13 (a) ELECTRONIC VOTING.—In rule XX of the Rules 

14 of the House of Representatives, the last sentence of 

15 clause 2(a) is amended by inserting ‘‘and the maximum 

16 time shall be 30 minutes’’ before the period. 

17 (b) TELLER VOTES.—In rule XX of the Rules of the 

18 House of Representatives, the last sentence of clause 4(a) 

19 is amended by inserting ‘‘and the maximum time shall be 

20 30 minutes’’ before the period. 

21 (c) POSTPONING RECORD VOTES.—In rule XX of the 

22 Rules of the House of Representatives, clause 8(c) is 

23 amended by inserting ‘‘and the maximum time is 30 min24 utes’’ before the period. 
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1 SEC. 103. RESTRICTION OF LATE NIGHT VOTING. 

2 Rule XX of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following new clause: 

4 ‘‘12. Except for a motion to adjourn, it shall not be 

5 in order to conduct a vote on any measure or matter after 

6 midnight or before 7 a.m. on any calendar day unless, on 

7 the previous calendar day, the House has approved such 

8 late night voting on such calendar day by an affirmative 

9 vote of two-thirds of those voting, a quorum being 

10 present.’’. 

11 SEC. 104. RESTRICTIVE RULE LIMITATION. 

12 Clause 6 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 

13 Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(h) It shall not be in order to consider any rule or 

16 order reported from the Committee on Rules providing for 

17 the consideration of any bill or resolution otherwise sub18 ject to amendment under House rules if that resolution 

19 limits the right of Members to offer germane amendments 

20 to such bill or resolution unless at least one amendment 

21 in the nature of a substitute and two additional amend22 ments, if requested in writing by the minority leader, are 

23 allowed to be offered by the minority leader (or the minor24 ity leader’s designee) to such bill or resolution by such 

25 rule or order.’’. 
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1 SEC. 105. TWO-THIRDS REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN WAIV2 ERS UNDER THE RULES OF THE HOUSE. 

3 (a) TWO-THIRDS REQUIREMENT.—Clause 6(c) of 

4 rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

5 is amended by striking the period and inserting a semi6 colon at the end of subparagraph (2) and by adding at 

7 the end the following new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(3) a rule or order which would waive the lay9 over requirement of clause 8 of rule XXII con10 cerning the availability of reports, would waive the 

11 three-day layover requirement or the three-day 

12 Internet availability requirement of clause 4(a)(1) of 

13 this rule or of clause 8(a)(1) of rule XXII, or would 

14 waive the scope requirement of the last sentence of 

15 clause 9 of rule XXII by a vote of less than two16 thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being 

17 present.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Clause 6(a) of rule 

19 XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 

20 amended by striking subparagraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

21 after the semicolon at the end of subparagraph (1), and 

22 by redesignating subparagraph (3) as subparagraph (2). 

23 SEC. 106. TWO-THIRDS REQUIREMENT FOR AVAILABILITY 

24 OF CERTAIN MEASURES ON THE INTERNET. 

25 (a) COMMITTEE REPORTS.—Clause 4(a)(1) of rule 

26 XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
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1 amended by inserting ‘‘and until the third such calendar 

2 day on which the underlying measure or matter has been 

3 made available by the Committee on Rules on its Internet 

4 site’’ before the period. 

5 (b) CONFERENCE REPORTS.—Clause 8(a)(1)(A) of 

6 rule XXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

7 is amended by inserting ‘‘and until the third such calendar 

8 day on which such conference report and joint explanatory 

9 statement have been made available by the standing com10 mittee of the House with subject matter jurisdiction over 

11 the underlying legislation on its Internet site’’ before the 

12 semicolon. 

13 SEC. 107. COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION. 

14 In rule X of the Rules of the House of Representa15 tives, clause 5(a) is amended by adding at the end the 

16 following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(5)(A) One-half of the members of the Committee 

18 on House Administration shall be from the majority party 

19 and one-half shall be from the minority party. 

20 ‘‘(B) In the case of the Committee on House Admin21 istration, subpoenas may be authorized and issued as pro22 vided by clause 2(m) of rule XI, except that either the 

23 chairman or ranking minority party member of that com24 mittee may authorize and issue subpoenas under that 

25 clause.’’. 
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1 SEC. 108. CONTROL OF COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT RE2 FORM. 

3 In rule X, clause 5(a) (as amended by section 107) 

4 is further amended by adding the following new subpara5 graph: 

6 ‘‘(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 

7 (c)(1), the majority of the membership, including the 

8 chairman, of the Committee on Government Reform, shall 

9 be composed of Members of a major political party other 

10 than the political party of which the President of the 

11 United States is a member.’’. 

12 SEC. 109. CONFERENCE COMMITTEE DISCLOSURE RE13 QUIREMENT. 

14 (a) CLEAR IDENTIFICATION OF NEW MATERIAL IN

15 CONFERENCE REPORTS.—In rule XXII, clause 7(e) is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 

17 ‘‘The joint explanatory statement shall separately identify 

18 and explain each provision of the report which was not 

19 contained in the bill or resolution (or House or Senate 

20 amendment thereto, as applicable) for which the com21 mittee of conference was held, and, if possible, identify the 

22 Member who proposed such provision.’’. 

23 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS ON CONFERENCE

24 COMMITTEE PROTOCOLS.—It is the sense of the Congress 

25 that—
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1 (1) conference committees should hold regular, 

2 formal meetings of all conferees; 

3 (2) all conferees should be given adequate no4 tice of the time and place of all such meetings; and 

5 (3) all conferees should be afforded an oppor6 tunity to participate in full and complete debates of 

7 the matters that such conference committees may 

8 recommend to their respective Houses. 

9 SEC. 110. CREATION OF BIPARTISAN BLUE-RIBBON COM10 MISSION ON HOUSE OVERSIGHT. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.—There is es12 tablished a Commission to assess the extent to which the 

13 House of Representatives has upheld its constitutional re14 sponsibility to oversee the executive branch and suggest 

15 structural and procedural changes to improve the over16 sight processes. 

17 (b) MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT.—(1) The 

18 Commission shall be composed of 10 members of whom 

19 5 shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House and 5 

20 by the minority leader of the House from among individ21 uals who have significant knowledge or experience in the 

22 matters to be studied by the Commission. 

23 (2) Of the members appointed by the Speaker and 

24 by the minority leader, one appointed by each shall be a 

25 former member of the House of Representatives and one 
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1 appointed by each shall be a former officer or employee 

2 of the executive branch. 

3 (3) A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled in 

4 the manner in which the original appointment was made. 

5 (4) Six members of the Commission shall constitute 

6 a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings. 

7 (5) The Commission shall have 2 co-chairs. One shall 

8 be designated by the Speaker and one by the minority 

9 leader from among the members of the Commission ap10 pointed by such individual. 

11 (6) The Commission shall meet at the call of the co12 chairmen. 

13 (7) Each member of the Commission who is not an 

14 officer or employee of the Government shall be com15 pensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the an16 nual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Execu17 tive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States 

18 Code, for each day (including travel time) during which 

19 such member is engaged in the performance of the duties 

20 of the Commission. All members of the Commission who 

21 are officers or employees of the United States shall serve 

22 without compensation in addition to that received for their 

23 services as officers or employees of the United States. The 

24 members of the Commission shall be allowed travel ex25 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 
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1 authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I 

2 of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away 

3 from their homes or regular places of business in the per4 formance of services for the Commission. 

5 (c) DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—The Director and staff 

6 of the Commission shall be appointed without regard to 

7 the civil service laws and regulations. The Director shall 

8 be compensated at the rate payable for level V of the Exec9 utive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States 

10 Code. The co-chairmen may fix the compensation of other 

11 personnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 

12 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title, relating 

13 to classification of positions and General Schedule pay 

14 rates, except that the rate of pay for such personnel may 

15 not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive 

16 Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

17 (d) POWERS.—The Commission may, for the purpose 

18 of carrying out this section, hold such hearings, sit and 

19 act at such times and places, take such testimony, and 

20 receive such evidence as the Commission considers appro21 priate. 

22 (e) REPORT.—The Commission shall transmit a final 

23 report to the House of Representatives not later than one 

24 year after the date of enactment of this Act. The final 

25 report shall contain a detailed report of the findings and 
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1 conclusions of the Commission, together with its rec2 ommendations for such legislation as it considers appro3 priate. 

4 (f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall cease to 

5 exist 30 days after submitting its final report pursuant 

6 to subsection (e). 

7 TITLE II—REFORMING LOB8 BYING DISCLOSURE AND 

9 CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST PRO10 VISIONS 

11 SEC. 201. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN POST-EMPLOYMENT 

12 LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS. 

13 (a) SENIOR EXECUTIVE PERSONNEL.—Section 

14 207(c)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 

15 striking ‘‘within 1 year after’’ and inserting ‘‘within 3 

16 years after’’. 

17 (b) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Section 207(e)(1) of 

18 such title is amended by adding at the end the following 

19 new subparagraph: 

20 ‘‘(E)(i) Any person who is a Member of Con21 gress and who, within 3 years after that person 

22 leaves office, knowingly makes, with the intent to in23 fluence, any communication to or appearance before 

24 any person who is a Member or an employee of a 

25 committee described in clause (ii) on behalf of any 
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1 other person (except the United States) in connec2 tion with any matter on which such former Member 

3 of Congress seeks action by a Member, officer, or 

4 employee of that committee, in his or her official ca5 pacity, shall be punished as provided in section 216 

6 of this title. 

7 ‘‘(ii) A committee referred to in clause (i) is 

8 any committee of which the former Member of Con9 gress was a Member within 1 year before leaving of10 fice.’’. 

11 SEC. 202. ELECTRONIC FILING OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 

12 REPORTS. 

13 Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

14 U.S.C. 1604) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(d) ELECTRONIC FILING REQUIRED.—A report re17 quired to be filed under this section shall be filed in elec18 tronic form, in addition to any other form that may be 

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

20 the House of Representatives.’’. 

21 SEC. 203. PUBLIC DATABASE OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE IN22 FORMATION. 

23 (a) DATABASE REQUIRED.—Section 6 of the Lob24 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is amend25 ed—
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1 (1) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (8) by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

6 paragraph: 

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

8 over the Internet, without a fee or other access 

9 charge, in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable 

10 manner, an electronic database that—

11 ‘‘(A) includes the information contained in 

12 registrations and reports filed under this Act; 

13 ‘‘(B) directly links the information it con14 tains to the information disclosed in reports 

15 filed with the Federal Election Commission 

16 under section 304 of the Federal Election Cam17 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434); and 

18 ‘‘(C) is searchable and sortable to the max19 imum extent practicable, including searchable 

20 and sortable by each of the categories of infor21 mation described in section 4(b) or 5(b).’’. 

22 (b) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—Section 6 of such 

23 Act is further amended in paragraph (4) by inserting be24 fore the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘and, in the 

25 case of a report filed in electronic form pursuant to section 
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1 5(d), shall make such report available for public inspection 

2 over the Internet not more than 48 hours after the report 

3 is so filed’’. 

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

6 necessary to carry out paragraph (9) of section 6 of such 

7 Act, as added by subsection (a). 

8 SEC. 204. QUARTERLY FILING OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 

9 REPORTS. 

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

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

12 further amended—

13 (1) in subsection (a)—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘Semiannual’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘Quarterly’’; 

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

17 and all that follows through ‘‘July of each 

18 year’’ and insert ‘‘the quarterly period begin19 ning on the first days of January, April, July, 

20 and October of each year’’; and 

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

22 and insert ‘‘such quarterly period’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (b)—
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1 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

2 by striking ‘‘semiannual report’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘quarterly report’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘semi5 annual filing period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 

6 period’’; 

7 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘semi8 annual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly pe9 riod’’; and 

10 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘semi11 annual filing period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 

12 period’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

14 (1) DEFINITION.—Section 3 of such Act (2 

15 U.S.C. 1602) is amended in paragraph (10) by 

16 striking ‘‘six month period’’ and inserting ‘‘three17 month period’’. 

18 (2) REGISTRATION.—Section 4 of such Act (2 

19 U.S.C. 1603) is amended—

20 (A) in subsection (a)(3)(A) by striking 

21 ‘‘semiannual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 

22 period’’; and 

23 (B) in subsection (b)(3)(A) by striking 

24 ‘‘semiannual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 

25 period’’. 
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1 (3) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 6 of such Act (2 

2 U.S.C. 1605) is amended in paragraph (6) by strik3 ing ‘‘semiannual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 

4 period’’. 

5 (4) ESTIMATES.—Section 15 of such Act (2 

6 U.S.C. 1610) is amended—

7 (A) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘semi8 annual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly pe9 riod’’; and 

10 (B) in subsection (b)(1) by striking ‘‘semi11 annual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly pe12 riod’’. 

13 (5) DOLLAR AMOUNTS.—

14 (A) Section 4 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603) 

15 is further amended—

16 (i) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(i), by strik17 ing ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,500’’; 

18 (ii) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(ii), by 

19 striking ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘$10,000’’; 

21 (iii) in subsection (b)(3)(A), by strik22 ing ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’; 

23 and 

24 (iv) in subsection (b)(4), by striking 

25 ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 
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1 (B) Section 5 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604) 

2 is further amended—

3 (i) in subsection (c)(1), by striking 

4 ‘‘$10,000’’ and ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘$5,000’’ and ‘‘$10,000’’, respectively; and 

6 (ii) in subsection (c)(2), by striking 

7 ‘‘$10,000’’ both places such term appears 

8 and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 

9 SEC. 205. DISCLOSURE OF GRASSROOTS ACTIVITIES BY 

10 PAID LOBBYISTS. 

11 Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

12 U.S.C. 1602) is amended—

13 (1) in paragraph (8) by adding at the end the 

14 following new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(C) GRASSROOTS ACTIVITIES.—Notwith16 standing subparagraph (B), the term ‘lobbying 

17 contact’ also includes a grassroots lobbying 

18 communication.’’; and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(17) GRASSROOTS LOBBYING COMMUNICA22 TION.—The term ‘grassroots lobbying communica23 tion’ means an attempt to influence legislation or ex24 ecutive action through the use of mass communica25 tions (except mass communications through the 
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1 Internet) directed to the general public and designed 

2 to encourage recipients to take specific action with 

3 respect to specific legislation or executive action, ex4 cept that such term does not include any commu5 nications by an entity directed to its members, em6 ployees, officers, or shareholders. For purposes of 

7 this paragraph, a communication is designed to en8 courage a recipient if any of the following applies: 

9 ‘‘(A) The communication states that the 

10 recipient should contact a legislator, or should 

11 contact an officer or employee of an executive 

12 agency. 

13 ‘‘(B) The communication provides the ad14 dress, phone number, and contact information 

15 of a legislator or of an officer or employee of 

16 an executive agency. 

17 ‘‘(C) The communication provides a peti18 tion, tear-off postcard, or similar material for 

19 the recipient to send to a legislator or to an of20 ficer or employee of an executive agency. 

21 ‘‘(D)(i) Subject to clause (ii), the commu22 nication specifically identifies an individual 

23 who—

24 ‘‘(I) is in a position to consider or 

25 vote on the legislation; 
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1 ‘‘(II) represents the recipient in Con2 gress; or 

3 ‘‘(III) is an officer or employee of the 

4 executive agency to which the legislation or 

5 executive action relates. 

6 ‘‘(ii) A communication described in clause 

7 (i) is a grassroots lobbying communication only 

8 if it is a communication that cannot meet the 

9 ‘full and fair exposition’ test as nonpartisan 

10 analysis, study, or research.’’. 

11 SEC. 206. IDENTIFICATION OF OFFICIALS WITH WHOM LOB12 BYING CONTACTS ARE MADE. 

13 Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

14 U.S.C. 1604) is further amended in subsection (b)(2)—

15 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

16 through (D) as subparagraphs (C) through (E), re17 spectively; and 

18 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol19 lowing new subparagraph: 

20 ‘‘(B) for each specific issue listed pursuant 

21 to subparagraph (A), a list identifying each cov22 ered executive branch official and each Member 

23 of Congress with whom a lobbyist employed by 

24 the registrant engaged in a lobbying contact 

25 with respect to that issue;’’. 
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1 SEC. 207. DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES BY CER2 TAIN COALITIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 3 of the 

4 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602) is 

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) CLIENT.—

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

8 means any person or entity that employs or re9 tains another person for financial or other com10 pensation to conduct lobbying activities on be11 half of that person or entity. A person or entity 

12 whose employees act as lobbyists on its own be13 half is both a client and an employer of such 

14 employees. 

15 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF COALITIONS AND AS16 SOCIATIONS.—

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro18 vided in clauses (ii) and (iii), in the case 

19 of a coalition or association that employs 

20 or retains other persons to conduct lob21 bying activities, each of the individual 

22 members of the coalition or association 

23 (and not the coalition or association) is the 

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

25 preceding sentence shall not apply, and 
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1 only the coalition or association shall be 

2 treated as the client. 

3 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TAX4 EXEMPT ASSOCIATIONS.—In case of an as5 sociation—

6 ‘‘(I) which is described in para7 graph (3) of section 501(c) of the In8 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and ex9 empt from tax under section 501(a) of 

10 such Code, or 

11 ‘‘(II) which is described in any 

12 other paragraph of section 501(c) of 

13 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

14 and exempt from tax under section 

15 501(a) of such Code and which has 

16 substantial exempt activities other 

17 than lobbying with respect to the spe18 cific issue for which it engaged the 

19 person filing the registration state20 ment under section 4, 

21 the association (and not its members) shall 

22 be treated as the client. 

23 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN MEM24 BERS.—
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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Information 

2 on a member of a coalition or associa3 tion need not be included in any reg4 istration under section 4 if the 

5 amount reasonably expected to be con6 tributed by such member toward the 

7 activities of the coalition or associa8 tion of influencing legislation is less 

9 than $500 per any quarterly period. 

10 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—Subclause (I) 

11 shall not apply with respect to any 

12 member who unexpectedly makes ag13 gregate contributions of more than 

14 $500 in any quarterly period, and the 

15 date the aggregate of such contribu16 tions first exceeds $500 in such period 

17 shall be treated as the date of first 

18 employment or retention to make a 

19 lobbying contact for purposes of sec20 tion 4. 

21 ‘‘(iv) LOOK-THROUGH RULES.—In the 

22 case of a coalition or association which is 

23 treated as a client under the first sentence 

24 of clause (i)—
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1 ‘‘(I) such coalition or association 

2 shall be treated as employing or re3 taining other persons to conduct lob4 bying activities for purposes of deter5 mining whether any individual mem6 ber thereof is treated as a client under 

7 clause (i), and 

8 ‘‘(II) information on such coali9 tion or association need not be in10 cluded in any registration under sec11 tion 4 of the coalition or association 

12 with respect to which it is treated as 

13 a client under clause (i).’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall apply to—

17 (A) coalitions and associations listed on 

18 registration statements filed under section 4 of 

19 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, and 

21 (B) coalitions and associations for whom 

22 any lobbying contact is made after the date of 

23 the enactment of this Act. 

24 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of any coali25 tion or association to which the amendments made 
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1 by this Act apply by reason of paragraph (1)(B), the 

2 person required by such section 4 to file a registra3 tion statement with respect to such coalition or asso4 ciation shall file a new registration statement within 

5 30 days after the date of the enactment of this sec6 tion. 

7 SEC. 208. REFORM OF WAIVER PROCESS FOR ACTS AFFECT8 ING A PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTEREST. 

9 Section 208 of title 18, United States Code, is 

10 amended—

11 (1) in subsection (b)(1)—

12 (A) by inserting after ‘‘the Government of13 ficial responsible for appointment to his or her 

14 position’’ the following: ‘‘and the Office of Gov15 ernment Ethics’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘a written determination 

17 made by such official’’ and inserting ‘‘a written 

18 determination made by the Office of Govern19 ment Ethics, after consultation with such offi20 cial,’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘the official 

22 responsible for the employee’s appointment, after re23 view of’’ and inserting ‘‘the Office of Government 

24 Ethics, after consultation with the official respon-
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1 sible for the employee’s appointment and after re2 view of’’; and 

3 (3) in subsection (d)(1)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘Upon request’’ and all 

5 that follows through ‘‘Ethics in Government Act 

6 of 1978.’’ and inserting ‘‘In each case in which 

7 the Office of Government Ethics makes a deter8 mination granting an exemption under sub9 section (b)(1) or (b)(3) to a person, the Office 

10 shall, not later than 3 business days after mak11 ing such determination, make available to the 

12 public pursuant to the procedures set forth in 

13 section 105 of the Ethics in Government Act of 

14 1978, and publish in the Federal Register, such 

15 determination and the materials submitted by 

16 such person in requesting such exemption.’’; 

17 and 

18 (B) strike ‘‘the agency may withhold’’ and 

19 insert ‘‘the Office of Government Ethics may 

20 withhold’’. 

21 SEC. 209. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

22 OF EMPLOYMENT NEGOTIATIONS. 

23 (a) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—The Code of Of24 ficial Conduct set forth in rule XXIII of the Rules of the 

25 House of Representatives is amended by redesignating 
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1 clause 14 as clause 15 and by inserting after clause 13 

2 the following new clause: 

3 ‘‘14. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commis4 sioner shall publicly disclose the fact that he or she 

5 is negotiating or has any arrangement concerning 

6 prospective employment if a conflict of interest or 

7 the appearance of a conflict of interest may exist.’’. 

8 (b) SENATE.—[Text to be supplied by the Senate].

Æ