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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sunshine for Lobbyists
Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. INFORMATION ON FINANCIAL BENEFITS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Each lobbyist shall make a semi-
annual report to the Attorney General of a list of each
individual financial benefit provided directly or indirectly
by the lobbyist (including a financial benefit provided by
a lobbyist employed by or a lobbyist who is a member of
a lobbyist) to a covered legislative branch official, to an
entity that is established, maintained, controlled, or fi-
nanced by a covered legislative branch official, or to any
other person or entity on behalf of or in the name of a
covered legislative branch official, disclosing—
(1) with respect to each financial benefit other
than one described in paragraph (2), (3), (4), or
(5)—
(A) the name and position of the covered
legislative branch official or other person or en-
tity to whom or which the financial benefit was
provided;
(B) the nature of the financial benefit;
(C) the date on which the financial benefit
was provided; and
(D) the value of the financial benefit;
(2) with respect to each financial benefit that is
in the form of a widely attended reception in the
District of Columbia area to which covered legisla-
tive branch officials were invited—
(A) the nature of the reception;
(B) the date on which the reception oc-
curred; and
(C) a single aggregate figure for the ex-
penses incurred by the registrant in connection
with the reception;
(3) with respect to each financial benefit that is
in the form of a conference, retreat, or similar event
for or on behalf of covered legislative branch officials
that is sponsored by or affiliated with an official
congressional organization—
(A) the nature of the conference, retreat,
or other event;
(B) the date or dates on which the con-
ference, retreat, or other event occurred;
(C) the identity of the organization that
sponsored or is affiliated with the event; and
(D) a single aggregate figure for the ex-
penses incurred by the lobbyist in connection
with the conference, retreat, or similar event;
(4) with respect to each financial benefit that is
in the form of an event that is hosted or cohosted
with or in honor of 1 or more covered legislative
branch officials—
(A) the name and position of each such
covered legislative branch official;
(B) the nature of the event;
(C) the date on which the event occurred;
and
(D) the expenses incurred by the lobbyist
in connection with the event; and
(5) with respect to each financial benefit that is
in the form of election campaign fundraising activ-
ity—
(A) the name and position of the covered
legislative branch official on behalf of whom the
fundraising activity was performed;
(B) the nature of the fundraising activity;
(C) the date or dates on which the fund-
raising activity was performed;
(D) the expenses incurred by the lobbyist
in connection with the fundraising activity; and
(E) the number of contributions and the
aggregate amount of contributions known by
the lobbyist to have been made to the covered
legislative branch official as a result of the
fundraising activity.
For purposes of paragraph (2), the term ‘‘widely attended
reception’’ includes a reception open to members from
throughout a given industry or profession or open to indi-
viduals representing a range of persons interested in a
given matter.
(b) NOTIFICATION.—Two weeks before filing a semi-
annual report under subsection (a), the lobbyist filing the
report shall provide in writing to any covered legislative
branch official who will be listed in the report with a com-
plete list of the financial benefits provided, directly or indi-
rectly, to such official.
(c) EXEMPTION.—A list described in subsection (a)
need not disclose financial benefits having a value of $20
or less to the extent that the aggregate value of such fi-
nancial benefits that are provided to or on behalf of a cov-
ered legislative branch official or other person or entity
during the calendar year in which the semiannual period
covered by the report occurs has not exceeded $50.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
(1) The term ‘‘lobbyist’’ means any individual
who is employed or retained by another for financial
or other compensation to perform services that in-
clude lobbying contacts, other than an individual
whose lobbying activities are only incidental to, and
are not a significant part of, the services provided by
such individual to the client.
(2) The term ‘‘client’’ means any person who
employs or retains another person for financial or
other compensation to conduct lobbying activities on
its own behalf. An organization whose employees act
as lobbyists on its behalf is both a client and an em-
ployer of its employee lobbyists. In the case of a coa-
lition or association that employs or retains persons
to conduct lobbying activities on behalf of its mem-
bership, the client is the coalition or association and
not its individual members.
(3) The term ‘‘lobbying activities’’ means lobby-
ing contacts and efforts in support of such contacts,
including preparation and planning activities, re-
search and other background work that is intended
for use in contacts, and coordination with the lobby-
ing activities of others. Lobbying activities include
grass roots lobbying communications and commu-
nications with members, as defined under section
4911 (d)(1)(A) and (d)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 and the regulations implementing such
provisions, to the extent that such activities are
made in direct support of lobbying contacts.
(4)(A) The term ‘‘lobbying contact’’ means any
oral or written communication with a covered legisla-
tive branch official made on behalf of a client with
regard to—
(i) the formulation, modification, or adop-
tion of Federal legislation (including legislative
proposals);
(ii) the formulation, modification, or adop-
tion of a Federal rule, regulation, Executive
order, or any other program, policy or position
of the United States Government; or
(iii) the administration or execution of a
Federal program or policy (including the nego-
tiation, award, or administration of a Federal
contract, grant, loan, permit, or license) except
that it does not include communications that
are made to executive branch officials in the
agency responsible for taking such action who
serve in the Senior Executive Service, or who
are members of the uniformed services whose
pay grade is lower than O–9 under section 201
of title 37, United States Code.
(B) The term shall not include communications
that are—
(i) made by public officials acting in their
official capacity;
(ii) made by representatives of a media or-
ganization who are primarily engaged in gather-
ing and disseminating news and information to
the public;
(iii) made in a speech, article, publication
or other material that is widely distributed to
the public, or through the media;
(iv) made on behalf of a foreign principal
and disclosed under the Foreign Agents Reg-
istration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C.
611 et seq.);
(v) requests for appointments, requests for
the status of a Federal action, or other similar
ministerial contacts, if there is no attempt to
influence covered legislative branch officials;
(vi) made in the course of participation in
an advisory committee subject to the Federal
Advisory Committee Act;
(vii) testimony given before a committee,
subcommittee, or office of Congress, or submit-
ted for inclusion in the public record of a hear-
ing conducted by such committee, subcommit-
tee, or office;
(viii) information provided in writing in re-
sponse to a specific written request from a cov-
ered legislative branch official;
(ix) required by subpoena, civil investiga-
tive demand, or otherwise compelled by statute,
(xv) a formal petition for agency action,
made in writing pursuant to established agency
procedures; and
(xvi) made on behalf of an individual with
regard to such individual’s benefits, employ-
ment, other personal matters involving only
that individual, or disclosures by that individual
pursuant to applicable whistleblower statutes.
(5) The term ‘‘covered legislative branch offi-
cial’’ means—
(A) a Member of Congress;
(B) an elected officer of Congress;
(C) any employee of a Member of the
House of Representatives, of a committee of the
House of Representatives, or on the leadership
staff of the House of Representatives;
(D) any employee of a Senator, of a Sen-
ate Committee, or on the leadership staff of the
Senate; and
(E) any employee of a joint committee of
the Congress.
(6) The term ‘‘financial benefit’’—
(A) means anything of value given to, on
behalf of, or for the benefit of a covered legisla-
tive branch official, including—
(i) a gift;
(ii) payment for local or long-distance
transportation, entertainment, food, or
lodging, whether provided in kind, by pur-
chase of a ticket, by payment in advance
or by reimbursement, or otherwise;
(iii) a contribution or other payment
made to a third party in lieu of an hono-
rarium on the basis of a designation, rec-
ommendation, or other specification made
by the covered legislative branch official;
(iv) reimbursement of an expense;
(v) a loan; and
(vi) an expenditure made for a con-
ference, retreat, or other event benefiting a
covered person, but
(B) does not include—
(i) a contribution, as defined in the
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2
U.S.C. 431 et seq.), that is required to be
reported under that Act, unless the con-
tribution is in the form of participation in
a fundraising activity on behalf of a cov-
ered legislative branch official, including
the solicitation of contributions, hosting or
cohosting of a fundraising event, or service
on a campaign steering committee or its
equivalent;
(ii) a modest item of food or refresh-
ments, such as a soft drink, coffee, or
doughnut, offered other than as part of a
meal;
(iii) a greeting card or other item of
little intrinsic value, such as a plaque, cer-
tificate, or trophy, that is intended solely
for presentation;
(iv) financial benefits given under cir-
cumstances which make it clear that the
benefits are motivated by a family relation-
ship rather than the position of the recipi-
ent; or
(v) financial benefits which are not
used and which are promptly returned to
the donor.
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