I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2834

To provide for the disclosure by lobbyists of financial benefits provided

Members of Congress and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 3, 1993

Mr. FINGERHUT (for himself, Ms. SHEPHERD, Ms. SCHENK, Ms. CANTWELL,

Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. KLEIN, Mr. BECERRA

Mr. SANDERS, and Mrs. CLAYTON) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for the disclosure by lobbyists of financial benefits

provided Members of Congress 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 ‘‘Sunshine for Lobbyists

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. INFORMATION ON FINANCIAL BENEFITS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each lobbyist shall make a semi8 annual report to the Attorney General of a list of each

9 individual financial benefit provided directly or indirectly
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1 by the lobbyist (including a financial benefit provided by

2 a lobbyist employed by or a lobbyist who is a member of

3 a lobbyist) to a covered legislative branch official, to an

4 entity that is established, maintained, controlled, or fi5 nanced by a covered legislative branch official, or to any

6 other person or entity on behalf of or in the name of a

7 covered legislative branch official, disclosing—

8 (1) with respect to each financial benefit other

9 than one described in paragraph (2), (3), (4), or

10 (5)—

11 (A) the name and position of the covered

12 legislative branch official or other person or en13 tity to whom or which the financial benefit was

14 provided;

15 (B) the nature of the financial benefit;

16 (C) the date on which the financial benefit

17 was provided; and

18 (D) the value of the financial benefit;

19 (2) with respect to each financial benefit that is

20 in the form of a widely attended reception in the

21 District of Columbia area to which covered legisla22 tive branch officials were invited—

23 (A) the nature of the reception;

24 (B) the date on which the reception oc25 curred; and
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1 (C) a single aggregate figure for the ex2 penses incurred by the registrant in connection

3 with the reception;

4 (3) with respect to each financial benefit that is

5 in the form of a conference, retreat, or similar event

6 for or on behalf of covered legislative branch officials

7 that is sponsored by or affiliated with an official

8 congressional organization—

9 (A) the nature of the conference, retreat,

10 or other event;

11 (B) the date or dates on which the con12 ference, retreat, or other event occurred;

13 (C) the identity of the organization that

14 sponsored or is affiliated with the event; and

15 (D) a single aggregate figure for the ex16 penses incurred by the lobbyist in connection

17 with the conference, retreat, or similar event;

18 (4) with respect to each financial benefit that is

19 in the form of an event that is hosted or cohosted

20 with or in honor of 1 or more covered legislative

21 branch officials—

22 (A) the name and position of each such

23 covered legislative branch official;

24 (B) the nature of the event;
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1 (C) the date on which the event occurred;

2 and

3 (D) the expenses incurred by the lobbyist

4 in connection with the event; and

5 (5) with respect to each financial benefit that is

6 in the form of election campaign fundraising activ7 ity—

8 (A) the name and position of the covered

9 legislative branch official on behalf of whom the

10 fundraising activity was performed;

11 (B) the nature of the fundraising activity;

12 (C) the date or dates on which the fund13 raising activity was performed;

14 (D) the expenses incurred by the lobbyist

15 in connection with the fundraising activity; and

16 (E) the number of contributions and the

17 aggregate amount of contributions known by

18 the lobbyist to have been made to the covered

19 legislative branch official as a result of the

20 fundraising activity.

21 For purposes of paragraph (2), the term ‘‘widely attended

22 reception’’ includes a reception open to members from

23 throughout a given industry or profession or open to indi24 viduals representing a range of persons interested in a

25 given matter.
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1 (b) NOTIFICATION.—Two weeks before filing a semi2 annual report under subsection (a), the lobbyist filing the

3 report shall provide in writing to any covered legislative

4 branch official who will be listed in the report with a com5 plete list of the financial benefits provided, directly or indi6 rectly, to such official.

7 (c) EXEMPTION.—A list described in subsection (a)

8 need not disclose financial benefits having a value of $20

9 or less to the extent that the aggregate value of such fi10 nancial benefits that are provided to or on behalf of a cov11 ered legislative branch official or other person or entity

12 during the calendar year in which the semiannual period

13 covered by the report occurs has not exceeded $50.

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

15 (1) The term ‘‘lobbyist’’ means any individual

16 who is employed or retained by another for financial

17 or other compensation to perform services that in18 clude lobbying contacts, other than an individual

19 whose lobbying activities are only incidental to, and

20 are not a significant part of, the services provided by

21 such individual to the client.

22 (2) The term ‘‘client’’ means any person who

23 employs or retains another person for financial or

24 other compensation to conduct lobbying activities on

25 its own behalf. An organization whose employees act
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1 as lobbyists on its behalf is both a client and an em2 ployer of its employee lobbyists. In the case of a coa3 lition or association that employs or retains persons

4 to conduct lobbying activities on behalf of its mem5 bership, the client is the coalition or association and

6 not its individual members.

7 (3) The term ‘‘lobbying activities’’ means lobby8 ing contacts and efforts in support of such contacts,

9 including preparation and planning activities, re10 search and other background work that is intended

11 for use in contacts, and coordination with the lobby12 ing activities of others. Lobbying activities include

13 grass roots lobbying communications and commu14 nications with members, as defined under section

15 4911 (d)(1)(A) and (d)(3) of the Internal Revenue

16 Code of 1986 and the regulations implementing such

17 provisions, to the extent that such activities are

18 made in direct support of lobbying contacts.

19 (4)(A) The term ‘‘lobbying contact’’ means any

20 oral or written communication with a covered legisla21 tive branch official made on behalf of a client with

22 regard to—

23 (i) the formulation, modification, or adop24 tion of Federal legislation (including legislative

25 proposals);
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1 (ii) the formulation, modification, or adop2 tion of a Federal rule, regulation, Executive

3 order, or any other program, policy or position

4 of the United States Government; or

5 (iii) the administration or execution of a

6 Federal program or policy (including the nego7 tiation, award, or administration of a Federal

8 contract, grant, loan, permit, or license) except

9 that it does not include communications that

10 are made to executive branch officials in the

11 agency responsible for taking such action who

12 serve in the Senior Executive Service, or who

13 are members of the uniformed services whose

14 pay grade is lower than O–9 under section 201

15 of title 37, United States Code.

16 (B) The term shall not include communications

17 that are—

18 (i) made by public officials acting in their

19 official capacity;

20 (ii) made by representatives of a media or21 ganization who are primarily engaged in gather22 ing and disseminating news and information to

23 the public;
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1 (iii) made in a speech, article, publication

2 or other material that is widely distributed to

3 the public, or through the media;

4 (iv) made on behalf of a foreign principal

5 and disclosed under the Foreign Agents Reg6 istration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C.

7 611 et seq.);

8 (v) requests for appointments, requests for

9 the status of a Federal action, or other similar

10 ministerial contacts, if there is no attempt to

11 influence covered legislative branch officials;

12 (vi) made in the course of participation in

13 an advisory committee subject to the Federal

14 Advisory Committee Act;

15 (vii) testimony given before a committee,

16 subcommittee, or office of Congress, or submit17 ted for inclusion in the public record of a hear18 ing conducted by such committee, subcommit19 tee, or office;

20 (viii) information provided in writing in re21 sponse to a specific written request from a cov22 ered legislative branch official;

23 (ix) required by subpoena, civil investiga24 tive demand, or otherwise compelled by statute,
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1 regulation, or other action of Congress or a

2 Federal agency;

3 (x) made in response to a notice in the

4 Federal Register, Commerce Business Daily, or

5 other similar publication soliciting communica6 tions from the public and directed to the agency

7 official specifically designated in the notice to

8 receive such communications;

9 (xi) not possible to report without disclos10 ing information, the unauthorized disclosure of

11 which is prohibited by law;

12 (xii) made to agency officials with regard

13 to judicial proceedings, criminal or civil law en14 forcement inquiries, investigations or proceed15 ings, or filings required by statute or regula16 tion;

17 (xiii) made in compliance with written

18 agency procedures regarding an adjudication

19 conducted by the agency under section 554 of

20 title 5, United States Code, or substantially

21 similar provisions;

22 (xiv) written comments filed in a public

23 docket and other communications that are

24 made on the record in a public proceeding;
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1 (xv) a formal petition for agency action,

2 made in writing pursuant to established agency

3 procedures; and

4 (xvi) made on behalf of an individual with

5 regard to such individual’s benefits, employ6 ment, other personal matters involving only

7 that individual, or disclosures by that individual

8 pursuant to applicable whistleblower statutes.

9 (5) The term ‘‘covered legislative branch offi10 cial’’ means—

11 (A) a Member of Congress;

12 (B) an elected officer of Congress;

13 (C) any employee of a Member of the

14 House of Representatives, of a committee of the

15 House of Representatives, or on the leadership

16 staff of the House of Representatives;

17 (D) any employee of a Senator, of a Sen18 ate Committee, or on the leadership staff of the

19 Senate; and

20 (E) any employee of a joint committee of

21 the Congress.

22 (6) The term ‘‘financial benefit’’—

23 (A) means anything of value given to, on

24 behalf of, or for the benefit of a covered legisla25 tive branch official, including—
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1 (i) a gift;

2 (ii) payment for local or long-distance

3 transportation, entertainment, food, or

4 lodging, whether provided in kind, by pur5 chase of a ticket, by payment in advance

6 or by reimbursement, or otherwise;

7 (iii) a contribution or other payment

8 made to a third party in lieu of an hono9 rarium on the basis of a designation, rec10 ommendation, or other specification made

11 by the covered legislative branch official;

12 (iv) reimbursement of an expense;

13 (v) a loan; and

14 (vi) an expenditure made for a con15 ference, retreat, or other event benefiting a

16 covered person, but

17 (B) does not include—

18 (i) a contribution, as defined in the

19 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

20 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), that is required to be

21 reported under that Act, unless the con22 tribution is in the form of participation in

23 a fundraising activity on behalf of a cov24 ered legislative branch official, including

25 the solicitation of contributions, hosting or
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1 cohosting of a fundraising event, or service

2 on a campaign steering committee or its

3 equivalent;

4 (ii) a modest item of food or refresh5 ments, such as a soft drink, coffee, or

6 doughnut, offered other than as part of a

7 meal;

8 (iii) a greeting card or other item of

9 little intrinsic value, such as a plaque, cer10 tificate, or trophy, that is intended solely

11 for presentation;

12 (iv) financial benefits given under cir13 cumstances which make it clear that the

14 benefits are motivated by a family relation15 ship rather than the position of the recipi16 ent; or

17 (v) financial benefits which are not

18 used and which are promptly returned to

19 the donor.

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