House Passes Lobbying Reforms Aimed at Regaining Public Trust

WASHINGTON — Trying to win back public confidence in a scandal-tarnished Congress, the House Tuesday passed sweeping lobbying reforms that would require extensive disclosures of lobbying activities, including political fundraising.

The overwhelming approval, 411-8, came as Democratic leaders rushed to complete long-promised ethics legislation before the summer recess begins later this week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the accomplishment as "momentous" and "historic." The California Democrat said the reform would "drain the swamp that is Washington, D.C."

Freshman Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., one of the authors of the ethics measure, said she was in the House largely because voters lost trust amid lobbying and ethical misconduct. "We're going to start putting in place the steps to start rebuilding that trust so that we can bring the confidence of the American people back into this democracy," she said.

The legislation still faces obstacles as Democrats attempt to put an identical bill on a fast track for completion by week's end in the Senate.

There, opponent Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., plans to continue raising objections to provisions of the bill that, he charges, would allow senators to hide special interest projects, or "earmarks," that they insert into spending bills.

However, the bill headed for an expected Senate vote Thursday amid a striking reminder of the lingering ethical cloud over Capitol Hill. Federal law enforcement agents conducted a search Monday of the Alaska home of the dean of Republican senators, Ted Stevens, in a corruption investigation.

A coalition of watchdog groups urged Senate approval of the House-passed measure, which they welcomed as a major step in cleaning up the legislature.

"It may not be a grand slam, but it's a home run," said Meredith McGehee of the Campaign Legal Center, a group that advocates reducing the role of money in politics.

Among the chief provisions in the House-passed bill:

— Lobbyists would have to file disclosures of clients and fees every three months, and the information must be in a form that could be posted on the Internet and easily searched by the public.

— Candidates would be required to disclose funds raised by lobbyists if the total is more than $15,000 in a six-month period. This common practice of gathering checks for a candidate from a number of donors — or "bundling" — has not been regulated in the past.

— Senators would be banned from taking gifts from lobbyists, must pay full charter rates for use of corporate jets, and must wait two years after leaving the Senate before becoming a lobbyist. (The House, which adopted similar ethics rules for itself in January, retains a one-year rule for ex-members.)

— Legislators convicted of public corruption felonies would, in most cases, lose their congressional pensions.

In addition to DeMint's objections in the Senate, House Republicans pointed to elements missing from the Democratic bill.

Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., criticized the Democrats for failing to bar lawmakers from converting their political action committee (PAC) treasuries into money for their personal use when they retire.

Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee that brought up the legislation, said PACS should be required to report their "bundling" of donations.

Gingrey and Smith voted for the Democratic bill, as did nearly all of their colleagues.

The "juggernaut" in the House may make it difficult to stop the legislation, said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a group that advocates tougher action against "earmarks."

Ellis sided with DeMint against the House-passed bill, saying it weakens earlier proposals requiring full "transparency" for earmarks in the Senate.

But asked about prospects for stopping the lobbying reform bill this week, Ellis was not confident.

"Anything that gets only eight votes against it in the House has a decent chance in the Senate," he conceded.