I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2412 
To provide more rigorous requirements with respect to ethics and lobbying. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2005 
Mr. MEEHAN (for himself, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 
BERRY, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BROWN of 
Ohio, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CASE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, 
Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COOPER, Mr. COSTA, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DAVIS 
of Tennessee, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. 
DOGGETT, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORD, Mr. FRANK of Massa-
chusetts, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, 
Ms. HARMAN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIND, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. 
LANGEVIN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of 
California, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. MCCARTHY, 
Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 
MCNULTY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. 
MOORE of Kansas, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. PELOSI, 
Mr. PRICE
of North Carolina, Mr. ROSS, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. 
STARK, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. THOMPSON of 
California, Mr. UDALL
of New Mexico, Mr. VAN
HOLLEN, Ms. 
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WATSON, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. EVANS) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Standards of Official 
Conduct and Rules, 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 provide more rigorous requirements with respect to ethics 
and lobbying.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Special Interest Lobbying and Ethics Accountability Act 
of 2005’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—ENHANCING LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 
Sec. 101. Quarterly filing of lobbying disclosure reports. 
Sec. 102. Electronic filing of lobbying disclosure reports. 
Sec. 103. Public database of lobbying disclosure information. 
Sec. 104. Identification of officials with whom lobbying contacts are made. 
Sec. 105. Disclosure by registered lobbyists of all past executive and congres-
sional employment. 
Sec. 106. Disclosure of grassroots activities by paid lobbyists. 
Sec. 107. Disclosure of lobbying activities by certain coalitions and associations. 
TITLE II—SLOWING THE REVOLVING DOOR 
Sec. 201. Extension from 1 to 2 years of ban on attempting to influence by 
senior executive personnel, former Members of Congress, and 
officers and employees of the legislative branch. 
Sec. 202. Reform of waiver process for acts affecting a personal financial inter-
est. 
Sec. 203. Public disclosure by Members of Congress of employment negotia-
tions. 
Sec. 204. Wrongfully influencing, on a partisan basis, an entity’s employment 
decisions or practices. 
Sec. 205. Amendment to Code of Official Conduct to prohibit favoritism. 
TITLE III—CURBING EXCESSES IN PRIVATELY FUNDED TRAVEL 
Sec. 301. Required certification that congressional travel meets certain condi-
tions. 
Sec. 302. False certification in connection with congressional travel. 
Sec. 303. Increased disclosure of travel by Members. 
Sec. 304. Guidelines respecting travel expenses. 
TITLE IV—STRENGTHENING ENFORCEMENT AND OVERSIGHT OF 
ETHICS AND LOBBYING 
Sec. 401. Comptroller General review and semiannual report on activities car-
ried out by Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate 
under Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.
Sec. 402. Increased penalty for failure to comply with lobbying disclosure re-
quirements. 
Sec. 403. Hearings, recommendations, and report regarding activities of lobby-
ists. 
Sec. 404. Ethics task force. 
TITLE I—ENHANCING LOBBYING 
DISCLOSURE 
SEC. 101. QUARTERLY FILING OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 
REPORTS. 
(a) QUARTERLY FILING REQUIRED.—Section 5 of 
the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Semiannual’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘Quarterly’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘the semiannual period’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘July of each 
year’’ and insert ‘‘the quarterly period begin-
ning on the first days of January, April, July, 
and October of each year’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘such semiannual period’’ 
and insert ‘‘such quarterly period’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘semiannual report’’ and inserting 
‘‘quarterly report’’;
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘semi-
annual filing period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 
period’’; 
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘semi-
annual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly pe-
riod’’; and 
(D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘semi-
annual filing period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 
period’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) DEFINITION.—Section 3 of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1602) is amended in paragraph (10) by 
striking ‘‘six month period’’ and inserting ‘‘three- 
month period’’. 
(2) REGISTRATION.—Section 4 of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1603) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)(3)(A) by striking 
‘‘semiannual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 
period’’; and 
(B) in subsection (b)(3)(A) by striking 
‘‘semiannual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 
period’’. 
(3) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 6 of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1605) is amended in paragraph (6) by strik-
ing ‘‘semiannual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly 
period’’. 
(4) ESTIMATES.—Section 15 of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1610) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘semi-
annual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly pe-
riod’’; and 
(B) in subsection (b)(1) by striking ‘‘semi-
annual period’’ and inserting ‘‘quarterly pe-
riod’’. 
(5) DOLLAR AMOUNTS.— 
(A) Section 4 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603) 
is further amended— 
(i) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(i), by strik-
ing ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,500’’; 
(ii) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(ii), by 
striking 
‘‘$20,000’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘$10,000’’; 
(iii) in subsection (b)(3)(A), by strik-
ing ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’; 
and 
(iv) in subsection (b)(4), by striking 
‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 
(B) Section 5 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604) 
is further amended—
(i) in subsection (c)(1), by striking 
‘‘$10,000’’ and ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting 
‘‘$5,000’’ and ‘‘$10,000’’, respectively; and 
(ii) in subsection (c)(2), by striking 
‘‘$10,000’’ both places such term appears 
and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 
SEC. 102. ELECTRONIC FILING OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 
REPORTS. 
Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 
U.S.C. 1604) is further amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) ELECTRONIC FILING REQUIRED.—A report re-
quired to be filed under this section shall be filed in elec-
tronic form, in addition to any other form that may be 
required by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of 
the House of Representatives.’’. 
SEC. 103. PUBLIC DATABASE OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE IN-
FORMATION. 
(a) DATABASE REQUIRED.—Section 6 of the Lob-
bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is further 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (8) by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(9) maintain, and make available to the public 
over the Internet, without a fee or other access 
charge, in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable 
manner, an electronic database that— 
‘‘(A) includes the information contained in 
registrations and reports filed under this Act; 
‘‘(B) directly links the information it con-
tains to the information disclosed in reports 
filed with the Federal Election Commission 
under section 304 of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434); and 
‘‘(C) is searchable and sortable to the max-
imum extent practicable, including searchable 
and sortable by each of the categories of infor-
mation described in section 4(b) or 5(b).’’. 
(b) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—Section 6 of such 
Act is further amended in paragraph (4) by inserting be-
fore the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘and, in the 
case of a report filed in electronic form pursuant to section 
5(d), shall make such report available for public inspection 
over the Internet not more than 48 hours after the report 
is so filed’’.
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out paragraph (9) of section 6 of such 
Act, as added by subsection (a). 
SEC. 104. IDENTIFICATION OF OFFICIALS WITH WHOM LOB-
BYING CONTACTS ARE MADE. 
Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 
U.S.C. 1604) is further amended in subsection (b)(2)— 
(1) 
by 
redesignating 
subparagraphs 
(B) 
through (D) as subparagraphs (C) through (E), re-
spectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) for each specific issue listed pursuant 
to subparagraph (A), a list identifying each cov-
ered executive branch official and each Member 
of Congress with whom a lobbyist employed by 
the registrant engaged in a lobbying contact 
with respect to that issue;’’. 
SEC. 105. DISCLOSURE BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS OF ALL 
PAST EXECUTIVE AND CONGRESSIONAL EM-
PLOYMENT. 
Section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 
U.S.C. 1603) is further amended in subsection (b)(6) by 
striking ‘‘or a covered legislative branch official’’ and all
that follows through ‘‘as a lobbyist on behalf of the client,’’ 
and inserting ‘‘or a covered legislative branch official,’’. 
SEC. 106. DISCLOSURE OF GRASSROOTS ACTIVITIES BY 
PAID LOBBYISTS. 
(a) DISCLOSURE OF GRASSROOTS ACTIVITIES.—Sec-
tion 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1602) is further amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(17) GRASSROOTS
LOBBYING
COMMUNICA-
TION.—The term ‘grassroots lobbying communica-
tion’ means an attempt to influence legislation or ex-
ecutive action through the use of mass communica-
tions directed to the general public and designed to 
encourage recipients to take specific action with re-
spect to legislation or executive action, except that 
such term does not include any communications by 
an entity directed to its members, employees, offi-
cers, or shareholders. For purposes of this para-
graph, a communication is designed to encourage a 
recipient if any of the following applies: 
‘‘(A) The communication states that the 
recipient should contact a legislator, or should 
contact an officer or employee of an executive 
agency.
‘‘(B) The communication provides the ad-
dress, phone number, and contact information 
of a legislator or of an officer or employee of 
an executive agency. 
‘‘(C) The communication provides a peti-
tion, tear-off postcard, or similar material for 
the recipient to send to a legislator or to an of-
ficer or employee of an executive agency. 
‘‘(D)(i) Subject to clause (ii), the commu-
nication specifically identifies an individual 
who— 
‘‘(I) is in a position to consider or 
vote on the legislation; 
‘‘(II) represents the recipient in Con-
gress; or 
‘‘(III) is an officer or employee of the 
executive agency to which the legislation or 
executive action relates. 
‘‘(ii) A communication described in clause 
(i) is a grassroots lobbying communication only 
if it is a communication that cannot meet the 
‘full and fair exposition’ test as nonpartisan 
analysis, study, or research.’’. 
(b) SEPARATE ITEMIZATION OF GRASSROOTS EX-
PENSES.—Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of