‘‘§ 227. Wrongfully influencing a private entity’s em-
ployment decisions by a Member of Con-
gress 
‘‘Whoever, being a Senator or Representative in, or 
a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress or 
an employee of either House of Congress, with the intent 
to influence on the basis of partisan political affiliation 
an employment decision or employment practice of any 
private entity— 
‘‘(1) takes or withholds, or offers or threatens 
to take or withhold, an official act; or 
‘‘(2) influences, or offers or threatens to influ-
ence, the official act of another, 
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more 
than 15 years, or both, and may be disqualified from hold-
ing any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United 
States.’’. 
(b) NO INFERENCE.—Nothing in section 227 of title 
18, United States Code, as added by this section, shall 
be construed to create any inference with respect to wheth-
er the activity described in section 227 of title 18, United 
States Code, was a criminal or civil offense before the en-
actment of this Act, including under section 201(b), 
201(c), or any of sections 203 through 209, of title 18, 
United States Code. 
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(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘227. Wrongfully influencing a private entity’s employment decisions by a Mem-
ber of Congress.’’. 
SEC. 104. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) SECTION 101.—The amendments made by section 
101 shall apply to any individual who leaves office or em-
ployment (to which the restrictions in section 207 of title 
18, United States apply) more than 120 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) SECTION 102.—The amendment made by section 
102 shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and shall apply to negotiations commenced, and 
agreements entered into, on or after that date. 
(c) SECTION 103.—The amendments made by section 
103 shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
TITLE II—FULL PUBLIC 
DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING 
SEC. 201. 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)— 
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(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 day of January, April, July, 
and October of each year’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘such semiannual period’’ 
and inserting ‘‘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(10) of the Lob-
bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602) is 
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amended by striking ‘‘six month period’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘3-month period’’. 
(2) REGISTRATION.—Section 4 of the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) is amend-
ed— 
(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 the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is amended 
in paragraph (6) by striking ‘‘semiannual period’’ 
and inserting ‘‘quarterly period’’. 
(4) ESTIMATES.—Section 15 of the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1610) is amend-
ed— 
(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’’. 
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(5) DOLLAR AMOUNTS.—Section 4 of the Lob-
bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) is fur-
ther amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(i), by striking 
‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,500’’; 
(B) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(ii), by striking 
‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$10,000’’; 
(C) in subsection (b)(3)(A), by striking 
‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’; and 
(D) in subsection (b)(4), by striking 
‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 
SEC. 202. ELECTRONIC FILING OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 
REPORTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclo-
sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(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.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirement in section 
5(d) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as added 
by subsection (a) of this section, that reports be filed elec-
tronically shall take effect on the day after the end of the 
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first calendar quarter that begins after the date of the en-
actment of this Act. 
SEC. 203. ADDITIONAL LOBBYING DISCLOSURE REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
Section 5(b) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 
(2 U.S.C. 1604(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 
the semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (4) by striking the period and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(8) a certification that the lobbying firm, or 
registrant, and each employee listed as a lobbyist 
under section 4(b)(6) or paragraph (2)(C) of this 
subsection for that lobbying firm or registrant, has 
not provided, requested, or directed a gift, including 
travel, to a Member of Congress or an officer or em-
ployee of either House of Congress in violation rule 
XXXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate or rule 
XXV of the Rules of the House of Representatives.’’. 
SEC. 204. QUARTERLY REPORTS ON OTHER CONTRIBU-
TIONS. 
Section 5 of the Act (2 U.S.C. 1604) is further 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(e) QUARTERLY REPORTS ON OTHER CONTRIBU-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days 
after the end of the quarterly period beginning on 
the first day of January, April, July, and October of 
each year, or on the first business day after the first 
day of such month if that day is not a business day, 
each person who is registered or is required to reg-
ister under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 4(a), and 
each employee who is or is required to be listed as 
a lobbyist under section 4(b)(6) or subsection (b) of 
this section, shall file a report with the Secretary of 
the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Represent-
atives containing— 
‘‘(A) the name of the person; 
‘‘(B) in the case of an employee, his or her 
the employer; 
‘‘(C) the names of all political committees 
established or administered by the person; 
‘‘(D) the name of each Federal candidate 
or officeholder, leadership PAC, or political 
party committee, to whom aggregate contribu-
tions equal to or exceeding $200 were made by 
the person or a political committee established 
or administered by the person within the cal-
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endar year, and the date and amount of each 
contribution made within the quarterly period; 
‘‘(E) the date, recipient, and amount of 
funds contributed, disbursed, or arranged (or a 
good faith estimate thereof) by the person or a 
political committee established or administered 
by the person during the quarterly period— 
‘‘(i) to pay the cost of an event to 
honor or recognize a covered legislative 
branch official or covered executive branch 
official; 
‘‘(ii) to, or on behalf of, an entity that 
is named for a covered legislative branch 
official, or to a person or entity in recogni-
tion of such official; 
‘‘(iii) to an entity established, fi-
nanced, maintained, or controlled by a cov-
ered legislative branch official or covered 
executive branch official, or an entity des-
ignated by such official; or 
‘‘(iv) to pay the costs of a meeting, re-
treat, conference, or other similar event 
held by, or for the benefit of, 1 or more 
covered legislative branch officials or cov-
ered executive branch officials; and 
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‘‘(F) any information reported to the Fed-
eral Election Commission under the second sen-
tence of section 315(a)(8) of the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (relating to reports 
by intermediaries and conduits of the original 
source and the intended recipient of contribu-
tions under such Act) during the quarterly pe-
riod by the person or a political committee es-
tablished or administered by the person. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘leadership PAC’ means, with respect to an indi-
vidual holding Federal office, an unauthorized polit-
ical committee that is associated with an individual 
holding Federal office, except that such term shall 
not apply in the case of a political committee of a 
political party.’’. 
SEC. 205. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF GIFTS OR TRAV-
EL BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS TO MEMBERS 
OF CONGRESS AND TO CONGRESSIONAL EM-
PLOYEES. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 25. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF GIFTS OR TRAV-
EL BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS TO MEMBERS 
OF CONGRESS AND TO CONGRESSIONAL EM-
PLOYEES. 
‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Any person described in sub-
section (b) may not make a gift or provide travel to a 
Member, officer, or employee of Congress, if the person 
has knowledge that the gift or travel may not be accepted 
under the rules of the House of Representatives or the 
Senate. 
‘‘(b) PERSONS SUBJECT TO PROHIBITION.—The per-
sons subject to the prohibition under subsection (a) are 
any lobbyist that is registered or is required to register 
under section 4(a)(1), any organization that employs 1 or 
more lobbyists and is registered or is required to register 
under section 4(a)(2), and any employee listed or required 
to be listed as a lobbyist by a registrant under section 
4(b)(6).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 206. DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES BY CER-
TAIN COALITIONS AND ASSOCIATION. 
Paragraph (2) of section 3 of the Lobbying Disclo-
sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602) is amended to read as 
follows: 
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‘‘(2) CLIENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘client’ 
means any person or entity that employs or re-
tains another person for financial or other com-
pensation to conduct lobbying activities on be-
half of that person or entity. A person or entity 
whose employees act as lobbyists on its own be-
half is both a client and an employer of such 
employees. 
‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF COALITIONS AND AS-
SOCIATIONS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Except as pro-
vided in clauses (ii) and (iii), in the case 
of a coalition or association that employs 
or retains other persons to conduct lob-
bying activities, each of the individual 
members of the coalition or association 
(and not the coalition or association) is the 
client. For purposes of section 4(a)(3), the 
preceding sentence shall not apply, and the 
coalition or association shall be treated as 
the client. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TAX- 
EXEMPT ASSOCIATIONS.—In the case of an 
association that is described in paragraph 
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(3) of section 501(c) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax 
under section 501(a) of such Code, the as-
sociation (and not its members) shall be 
treated as the client. 
‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN MEM-
BERS.—Information on a member of a coa-
lition or association need not be included 
in any registration under section 4 if the 
amount reasonably expected to be contrib-
uted by such member toward the activities 
of the coalition or association of influ-
encing legislation is less than $500 during 
the quarterly period during which the reg-
istration would be made.’’. 
SEC. 207. DISCLOSURE BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS OF 
PAST EXECUTIVE BRANCH AND CONGRES-
SIONAL EMPLOYMENT. 
Section 4(b)(6) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(6)) is amended by striking ‘‘or 
a covered legislative branch official’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘as a lobbyist on behalf of the client,’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘or a covered legislative branch official,’’. 
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SEC. 208. PUBLIC DATABASE OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE IN-
FORMATION; MAINTENANCE OF INFORMA-
TION. 
(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 a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(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 
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and sortable by each of the categories of infor-
mation described in section 4(b) or 5(b); and 
‘‘(10) retain the information contained in a reg-
istration or report filed under this Act for a period 
of at least 6 years after the registration or report 
(as the case may be) is filed.’’. 
(b) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(4) of the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is amended 
by inserting before the semicolon at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘and, in the case of a report filed in elec-
tronic form pursuant to section 5(d), make such re-
port available for public inspection over the Internet 
not more than 48 hours after the report is so filed’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the day after 
the end of the first calendar quarter that begins 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(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 the 
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605), as 
added by subsection (a) of this section. 
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SEC. 209. INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN POLITICAL COM-
MITTEES. 
The amendments made by this title shall not apply 
to the activities of any political committee described in sec-
tion 301(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 
(2 U.S.C. 431(4)). 
SEC. 210. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
Except as otherwise provided, the amendments made 
by this title shall apply with respect to any quarterly filing 
period under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 that 
begins on or after January 1, 2008. 
TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT OF 
LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS 
SEC. 301. INCREASED CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR 
FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH LOBBYING DIS-
CLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. 
Section 7 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 
U.S.C. 1606) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 
CIVIL PENALTY.—Whoever’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting 
‘‘$100,000’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Whoever knowingly and 
corruptly fails to comply with any provision of this Act 
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shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years or fined 
under title 18, United States Code, or both.’’. 
TITLE IV—INCREASED 
DISCLOSURE 
SEC. 401. PROHIBITION ON OFFICIAL CONTACT WITH 
SPOUSE OF MEMBER WHO IS A REGISTERED 
LOBBYIST. 
Rule XXV of the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘7. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commis-
sioner shall prohibit all staff employed by that Mem-
ber, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner (including 
staff in personal, committee, and leadership offices) 
from having any official contact with that individ-
ual’s spouse if that spouse is a lobbyist under the 
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 or is employed or 
retained by such a lobbyist for the purpose of influ-
encing legislation.’’. 
SEC. 402. POSTING OF TRAVEL AND FINANCIAL DISCLO-
SURE REPORTS ON PUBLIC WEBSITE OF 
CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
TIVES. 
(a) REQUIRING POSTING ON INTERNET.—The Clerk 
of the House of Representatives shall post on the public 
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Internet site of the Office of the Clerk each of the fol-
lowing: 
(1) The advance authorizations, certifications, 
and disclosures filed with respect to transportation, 
lodging, and related expenses for travel under clause 
5(b) of rule XXV of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives by Members (including Delegates and 
Resident Commissioners to the Congress), officers, 
and employees of the House. 
(2) The reports filed under section 103(h)(1) of 
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 by Members 
of the House of Representatives (including Delegates 
and Resident Commissioners to the Congress). 
(b) APPLICABILITY AND TIMING.— 
(1) APPLICABILITY.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to informa-
tion received by the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives on or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
(2) TIMING.—The Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives shall— 
(A) not later than August 1, 2008, post 
the information required by subsection (a) that 
the Clerk receives by June 1, 2008; and 
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