Although it was not October 30, 1974 and Heavyweight champion George Foreman was not getting ready to battle Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire. There was much semblance in Congress taking on Washington lobbyist. Congress much like Muhammad Ali was being bullied along for seven rounds before knocking out George Forman in the eight. Congress last week landed the knock-out blow to lobbyist after years off ethic woes and lobbying scandals.
Congress did a knock-out job in passing the Ethics Reform bill that now is waiting for President Bush to sign into law. The great thing about this law is that tougher rules change the game for lobbyists and even the keel for small interest groups and individuals to share status. Unlike, major lobbying firms’ individuals and small interest groups don’t have the expenses accounts to indulge congress members or congressional aides. Last week Congress reassured the American people that money does not always make might, with its far-reaching ethics and lobbying rules. All that depends now is whether or not President Bush will sign the bill into law. Let’s pray he does.
The greatest achievement are the new “temptation rules.” Not only do they bar lawmakers and aides from accepting any gifts, meals or trips from lobbyists, they also impose penalties up to $200,000 and five years in prison on any lobbyist who provides such freebies. Unbeknownst to many, Congress and the federal prosecutors can still kick ass and take names by taking a newly aggressive approach to corruption cases by including treating campaign contributions as potential bribes. The provision goes beyond Federal Election Commission law, which covers only contributions physically handled by lobbyists or solicited by distributing pre-addressed envelopes. The House bill adds to that contributions credited to registered lobbyists through tracking or code systems.
The new proposals, which in the end passed overwhelmingly, would expand the information available about how business is done on Capitol Hill and make it available online. They would provide expanded, more frequent and Internet-accessible reporting of lobbyist-paid contributions and sponsorships, and would for the first time impose prison terms for criminal rule-breakers. They would also require strict new disclosure of “bundled” campaign contributions that lobbyists collect and pass on to lawmakers' campaigns. The bundling reports, filed quarterly and posted online, would mean “much more visibility of conduct that has typically occurred undetected because current law doesn't cover it or the FEC has been spotty in its enforcement,” said Kenneth A. Gross, an ethics attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
“It will be easier to connect dots,” said Ted Van Der Meid, a Washington lawyer who was counsel to Representative J. Dennis Hastert when he was House speaker. “Even if there shouldn’t be a connection, you are going to have to explain to them how the way they connected the dots is not what you intended. You are going to have to basically prove your innocence.”
References
Congress did a knock-out job in passing the Ethics Reform bill that now is waiting for President Bush to sign into law. The great thing about this law is that tougher rules change the game for lobbyists and even the keel for small interest groups and individuals to share status. Unlike, major lobbying firms’ individuals and small interest groups don’t have the expenses accounts to indulge congress members or congressional aides. Last week Congress reassured the American people that money does not always make might, with its far-reaching ethics and lobbying rules. All that depends now is whether or not President Bush will sign the bill into law. Let’s pray he does.
The greatest achievement are the new “temptation rules.” Not only do they bar lawmakers and aides from accepting any gifts, meals or trips from lobbyists, they also impose penalties up to $200,000 and five years in prison on any lobbyist who provides such freebies. Unbeknownst to many, Congress and the federal prosecutors can still kick ass and take names by taking a newly aggressive approach to corruption cases by including treating campaign contributions as potential bribes. The provision goes beyond Federal Election Commission law, which covers only contributions physically handled by lobbyists or solicited by distributing pre-addressed envelopes. The House bill adds to that contributions credited to registered lobbyists through tracking or code systems.
The new proposals, which in the end passed overwhelmingly, would expand the information available about how business is done on Capitol Hill and make it available online. They would provide expanded, more frequent and Internet-accessible reporting of lobbyist-paid contributions and sponsorships, and would for the first time impose prison terms for criminal rule-breakers. They would also require strict new disclosure of “bundled” campaign contributions that lobbyists collect and pass on to lawmakers' campaigns. The bundling reports, filed quarterly and posted online, would mean “much more visibility of conduct that has typically occurred undetected because current law doesn't cover it or the FEC has been spotty in its enforcement,” said Kenneth A. Gross, an ethics attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
“It will be easier to connect dots,” said Ted Van Der Meid, a Washington lawyer who was counsel to Representative J. Dennis Hastert when he was House speaker. “Even if there shouldn’t be a connection, you are going to have to explain to them how the way they connected the dots is not what you intended. You are going to have to basically prove your innocence.”
References
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