Fretting over lobbyists is not new in D.C.

WASHINGTON (AP) “Trailing its slimy length from gallery to committee room, at last it lies stretched at full length on the floor of Congress, this dazzling reptile.”

That's how a reporter in 1869 described lobbyists, a group that has been wooing, advising and many say corrupting Congress from its earliest days until the latest scandal involving disgraced influence-peddler Jack Abramoff.

As with past scandals, lawmakers are suddenly seeking new controls over an industry they depend on for information and in some cases use for their own personal or political advantage.

Since the last lobbying ethics act passed in 1995, “the lobbying industry has grown exponentially, new strategies for evading restrictions have emerged, and the laws and ethics rules have failed to keep pace,” said a recent statement by three lawmakers, Reps., Marty Meehan, D-Mass., and Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., authors of one of several reform measures that have been introduced.

But if change is overdue for some, for others it is overkill. “My concern is that we are rushing to judgment,” said Paul Miller, president of the American League of Lobbyists. Without looking at the lack of enforcement of current rules, “I'm not even sure you can blame the system.”

Miller said Abramoff, who defrauded Indian tribe clients of millions while arranging lavish trips and meals for public officials, hardly represents the 20,000 to 25,000 law-abiding lobbyists working in Washington. But he lamented that lobbyists never have enjoyed a good reputation and “this is a scandal that will probably set us back years.”

Even in the First Congress, one senator wrote of how New York merchants employed “treats, dinners, attentions” to delay passage of a tariff bill.

Lobbying became particularly intense in the post-Civil War Congress, and in 1872 a House member was caught distributing railroad stock to colleagues in return for their votes on railroad legislation. It was about that time that the newspaper correspondent described lobbyists as reptiles, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said during an address on the Senate's history.

“This town is swarming with lobbyists, so you can't throw bricks in any direction without hitting one,” Woodrow Wilson told reporters in 1913.

In 1919 Congress barred lobbying with federal funds, and a 1946 law required lobbyists to register and file reports of their expenses and contributions to members of Congress. The next major lobbying reform bill didn't pass until 1995. That measure broadened the definition of lobbying and required professional lobbyists to fully disclose who they are working for, what issues they are lobbying and roughly how much was being spent.

But Roberta Baskin, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, which watches the lobbying industry, said the act put “squishy rules on the books and really no enforcement.”

She said that while lobbyists spend $2 billion a year – more than twice what goes into financing political campaigns – Congress has a tiny staff to oversee the massive reports filed by lobbying firms, and the Justice Department rarely pursues incidents of lobbyists failing to register or report their activities.

Current congressional rules cap gifts to lawmakers at $50 per item and $100 per year from any individual, including lobbyists. Lobbyists are barred from paying for congressional travel but can arrange for their clients to pay for trips, a ploy used by Abramoff. Lobbyists must file semiannual reports of the issues they are promoting, but don't have to specify what officials they meet.

Members of Congress can become lobbyists after retiring, but are generally barred from contact with their former colleagues for one year. Baskin said that since 1998 some 250 former members of Congress have registered as lobbyists.

Among the bills Congress will consider this year are proposals to ban all gifts from lobbyists, require lawmakers to pay charter, rather than lower-cost first-class airfare when using corporate jets and barring lobbyists from paying for trips, arranging them or accompanying lawmakers on them.

Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., who is heading the House GOP effort to craft new ethics rules, said he is considering proposing a total ban on all privately funded trips, ending fact-finding trips financed by think tanks or interest groups that at times can be light on fact-finding and heavy on entertainment.

Other proposals would slow the “revolving door” from Congress to lobbying, making lawmakers wait two years. They would require quarterly reports, including information on contacts with members, and extend disclosure requirements to “grassroots” lobbyists, those trying to sell an issue through advertising, tollfree phone lines and computerized direct mail.

Miller said his organization is beginning a new voluntary certification program and plans more education courses for lobbyists to ensure compliance with the rules. The House and Senate would be advised to do the same, he said, noting that when it comes to unscrupulous conduct “it takes two to tango.”

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On the Net:

Center for Public Integrity: http://www.publicintegrity.or g/

American League of Lobbyists: http://www.alldc.org/