I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4108
To prohibit contingency fees in lobbying.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 22, 1994
Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To prohibit contingency fees in 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.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lobbying Anti Contin-
gency Fee Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. CONTINGENCY FEES IN LOBBYING.
(a) FINDING
AND DECLARATION.—The Congress
finds that the conduct prohibited by the amendment made
by subsection (b) is inimical to the public interest in pro-
tecting against the undue influence of overly aggressive
lobbying on Government officials and that the amendment
may, under the Constitution, appropriately be applied with
respect to fees collected or billed on or after March 1,
1994, by persons who had actual knowledge of its pend-
ency before Congress as of that date.
(b) OFFENSE.—Chapter 11 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 219 the follow-
ing new section:
‘‘§ 220. Contingency fees in lobbying
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, ‘Government en-
tity’ means an entity in the executive branch, legislative
branch, or judicial branch or a member, officer, or em-
ployee of any such entity.
‘‘(b) OFFENSE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person shall not make,
directly or indirectly, on behalf of any person other
than the United States, an oral or written commu-
nication to a Government entity, with intent to influ-
ence the Government entity with respect to an event
described in paragraph (2), for a fee or other com-
pensation the payment of any part of which is con-
tingent on the occurrence of that event.
‘‘(2) EVENTS
ATTEMPTED
TO
BE
INFLU-
ENCED.—An event is described in this paragraph if
it is—
‘‘(A) the taking of an action by Congress,
including an action by either House of Congress
or any committee or member of Congress; or
‘‘(B) the making or entering into of or de-
nial of an award, grant, financial assistance, or
contract by a Government entity.
‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (1)
shall not be considered to prohibit a communication
for a contingent fee relating to a claim for collection
of an amount that a client alleges is owed by the
Government under a contract or by reason of any
other form of obligation.
‘‘(c) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—A person who violates
subsection (a) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned
not more than 2 years, or both.
‘‘(d) CIVIL ACTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may
bring a civil action in any United States district
court, on behalf of the United States, against a per-
son who engages in conduct prohibited by subsection
(a), and, upon proof of such conduct by a prepon-
derance of the evidence, may recover twice the
amount of any contingent fee or other compensation
received by the person as a result of such conduct.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—A civil action under para-
graph (1) shall be barred unless the action is com-
menced not later than 6 years after the later of—
‘‘(A) the date on which the prohibited con-
duct occurred; or
‘‘(B) the date on which the United States
became or reasonably should have become that
the prohibited conduct occurred.
‘‘(e) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—The prohibition of
subsection (a) applies to conduct engaged in on or after
March 1, 1994.’’.
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters
at the beginning of chapter 11 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 219 the following new item:
‘‘220. Contingency fees in lobbying.’’.
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