Washington – The Senate, prodded by influence-peddling scandals that have given Congress a black eye, voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to deny senators gifts and meals from lobbyists and to tighten lobbyist reporting requirements.
In a 90-8 vote, senators also restricted, but didn’t eliminate, their ability to insert the special- interest provisions, or “earmarks,” that find their way into massive spending bills.
Sponsors of the bipartisan legislation praised it for making Senate business more transparent and less susceptible to backroom deals and high-priced wining and dining. But it has no enforcement mechanism, and its limits on earmarks have a loophole that would exclude millions in targeted spending from its restrictions.
The House of Representatives has yet to act. The Senate could impose several of the provisions, including the ban on gifts and meals, on itself later if the House fails to enact the legislation.
The changes came after two major corruption cases involving lobbyists, contractors and members of Congress. One former lawmaker, Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., was sentenced this month to more than eight years in prison for accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in exchange for favors inserted into Pentagon spending bills.
The Senate vote occurred the same day that disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to more than five years in prison for his role in the fraudulent purchase of a fleet of casino cruise ships. He awaits sentencing on his guilty plea to corruption charges for influencing legislation on Indian gaming and other matters. He’s cooperating with federal prosecutors investigating official corruption.
“In the past year, Americans have been shocked and some certainly disgusted by revelations of corruption to our system,” said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. “It has shaken public confidence in the Congress and our entire federal government.”
Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said the legislation was “a much tougher bill than I think anyone could have anticipated when we started this process.”
Critics said the bill fell short by keeping enforcement in the hands of the Senate Ethics Committee, a panel that operates largely in secret. The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly defeated a proposal to create an independent office of public integrity to investigate ethics complaints against lawmakers.
“This is nothing to write home about,” said Fred Wertheimer, the president of Democracy 21, a watchdog group.
The main provisions:
All gifts and meals from lobbyists for lawmakers or their staffs would be prohibited. Under existing rules, senators can accept gifts or meals valued up to $50, a threshold that created an eruption of $49.99 luncheon specials at some top D.C. restaurants.
Lawmakers would be prohibited from lobbying Congress for two years after leaving office. The current limit is one year. Senior congressional staffers would be prohibited from such lobbying for one year.
Lobbyists would have to file quarterly reports identifying their lobbying activity. Current law requires semiannual reports.
No lawmaker’s staff could have “official contact” with any lobbyist who’s a member of the lawmaker’s immediate family. A number of leading lawmakers have had spouses or children working as lobbyists.
Lawmakers no longer could negotiate their private employment while still in office. They also couldn’t influence the hiring practices of lobbying shops by threatening to punish lobbyists legislatively.
Some earmarks would have to be made public at least 24 hours before a bill is considered on the Senate floor.
