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Lobbying and Ethics
Reform Blog
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The Long and Winding Road ... to Conference
On May 24, the House adopted H.R. 2316, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (aka, the lobbying and ethics bill), in a lop-sided 396-22 vote. The Senate passed S. 1, its own version of the bill back on January 18 almost unanimously, 96-2.
The versions differed on the revolving door, or "cooling-off" period during which former lawmakers and staff are barred from lobbying Congress, with the Senate bill doubling the period from the current one-year period to two, at the behest of co-sponsors Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). The House included no such provision.
In the intervening five weeks, a silent struggle has been waged over appointment of the Democratic conferees, with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) snubbing Feingold's request to serve and mute about Obama's expression of interest in serving in his place.
Now, per the New York Times this afternoon:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has blocked appointment of Senate conferees on the stalled lobbying bill, casting doubt on the future of the biggest overhaul of ethics and lobbying legislation in a dozen years. [But] according to Senate aides and outside ethics experts, this impasse could be resolved by simply bifurcating Senate and House revolving door rules. Under this proposal, the Senate would end up with stricter revolving door rules than the House.
President of the American League of Lobbying Brian Pallasch seemed perplexed by this notion and worried that the aspiring lobbyists serving as staffers in the Senate would flee: "To say the House has one set of rules and the Senate has another could sow confusion... It could create brain drain."
If conferees cannot be appointed in short order on a bill overwhelmingly supported by both Houses, it will be tempting to say that Mr. Pallasch's concerns have been realized even without this proposal.
Posted by Dana Chasin
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