Over a decade ago, the United States Congress completely overhauled the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, and the new law provided for more concrete definitions of both lobbyist and lobbying activities.  Unfortunately, in recent months and weeks, it has come to the surface that some lawmakers and lobbyists have broken these laws. 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives laid out an excellent start to combat the issues at hand.  Entitled, ‘Honest Leadership, Open Government,’ the proposal details important reforms to current law and would facilitate transparency in our system of government and put an end to the culture of corruption in the wake of the lobbying scandals facing our government.  Specifically, the proposal puts an immediate stop to gifts such as meals, domestic and international travel, and tickets to sporting, recreational, and entertainment events paid for by lobbyists under the guise of official business.  The ‘Honest Government, Open Leadership,’ plan mandates an extension from one to two years the time period between which lawmakers, senior Congressional staff, and Executive Branch officials are allowed to lobby their former employers.  Additionally, this proposal requires that conference committee meetings be open to the public, as committee hearings and markup of committee legislation are, and that members of the exclusive conference committee publicly cast their vote.  All too often in Washington, when a committee meets in conference to iron out differences between a House and Senate version of a bill, meetings and votes are held in secret and are so exclusive that many members of the conference committee are locked out of important aspects of the decision making process.  This proposal also demands that Members of Congress have at least 24 hours to review conference reports before they must cast a vote.   

As legislation makes its way to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, I will work with my colleagues to ensure greater transparency in our nation’s political system.  As your Representative in the United States Congress, I am committed to demanding honest leadership and open government from this Congress and ending the culture of corruption that has unfortunately surfaced in our nation’s capital.  Furthermore, I will fight for reforms that clean up Washington, create an environment of good government, and demand the toughest of penalties for those who have broken the law and violated the trust of the American public.