John Conyers

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), a distinguished member of the Committee on the Judiciary. (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of the time. I urge my colleagues to step up to the plate this afternoon, the day before we go out into recess, to join with your Committee on the Judiciary in their bipartisan support for this bundling bill. It's necessary that we continue to bring sunlight on the workings of the lobbying organizations and the fundraising as it affects the congressional product. It's important, as a part of the promise that we have made to the American people, that we work to restore their confidence in us, and this will be accomplished, in part, by what we do here on the floor of the House of Representatives on this day. I hope we will keep that commitment by passing this very important measure before us, H.R. 2317, the Lobbying Transparency Act of 2007.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, reserving the right to object, and I believe I may have to object, because we are just seeing the motion for the first time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. CONYERS. Members of the House, recommit motions too frequently here have become procedural tactics that are not based on the work that we have done in the committee up until now. And I rise to oppose the provision because it raises conveniently a new issue not discussed in our hearings and not even raised in the markup. I don't think that it is really going to be helpful to the bundling law at all. As I understand this motion to recommit, this is a broad new provision that would make the bill even more complex and difficult to administer. We have had that problem with this measure in the other body, and we certainly don't want to bring that kind of strategy into the measure before us now. It would seem to sweep into its reach entities that are not public or official. This would include political action committees created by the following organization. It would include the National Rifle Association, the Right to Life Organization, even the Congressional Black Caucus. It would include Emily's List. It would seem to me that this would really confuse the bill, and I urge my Members, at this late date, under this strategy, to oppose the amendment. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen).

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, the fact of the matter is that these organizations aren't the objects of a bundling activity, the National Rifle Association, the right-to-life, and others. This is a poison pill amendment.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the instructions of the House on the motion to recommit, I report the bill, H.R. 2317, back to the House with an amendment.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chairman, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act reported out of the Committee on the Judiciary on a bipartisan basis builds on the work of the last Congress to make long-needed reforms to the Lobby Disclosure Act and related rules and law. The legislation before us today, right now, reflects the give and take of the legislative process incorporating proposals of Members on both sides of the aisle, both on and off the Judiciary Committee. At the end of the day, I believe that we have a measure that represents a very significant improvement over current law. By emphasizing increased disclosure and enforcement, the bill is defined to effect practical change in the way that lobbying efforts are reported and monitored. It accomplishes this without infringing upon our first amendment rights as citizens to petition our government for redress of grievances. The measure before us effects important changes in three areas: Prohibition of unethical conduct, increased disclosure, and enhanced penalties. First, it ends the practice of Members attempting to use their power to influence private lobbyist hiring decisions. It does it by prohibiting Members and senior staff from influencing hiring decisions or practices of private entities for partisan political gain. Violations can result in not only fines, but imprisonment for up to 15 years. Second, this measure now under consideration provides for greater disclosure. It requires the disclosure of lobbying activities by many coalitions, as well as the past executive branch and congressional employment of registered lobbyists. It also requires lobbyists to file more detailed reports disclosing their contacts with Congress, as well as certifications that the lobbyist did not give a gift or pay for travel in violation of the rules. These reports are to be filed electronically and more frequently, quarterly rather than semiannually, and they will be made available to the public for free over the Internet in a timely fashion. Finally, the legislation provides for stronger enforcement. This measure significantly increases the penalties for noncompliance with Lobbying Disclosure Act requirements. Civil penalties are increased from the current $50,000 per violation to $100,000, and there are new criminal penalties for knowing, willful and corrupt violations, with potential sentences of imprisonment up to 5 years. The recent round of lobbying scandals demonstrates that fundamental change is needed. The legislation before us today helps to reform the lobbying process and provides us with an opportunity to begin to rebuild confidence in Congress. I believe that this legislation represents a realistic approach that strengthens current law to restore accountability in the Congress. This bill is not about any one Member or any one political party. It is about restoring the American people's trust in all of us. Madam Chairman, it is now time for us to act. We are a few months late in getting around to this measure, but I am sure with the cooperation of Members on both sides of the aisle, we will succeed in our endeavor to raise the integrity of the Congress and restore the American people's trust in all of us. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Space).

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. CONYERS. I want to say to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) that his work on this measure in the Judiciary Committee was very important to us, and on both sides of the aisle, I think we acknowledge and thank you for your contributions.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chair, I am honored to recognize now the distinguished majority leader, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, for 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairman, as you know, the first part of our three-prong attempt in increasing disclosure and enforcement is, of course, trying to influence private lobbyists' hiring decisions. And in terms of parking issues, that is not involved in this measure because the subject matter does not come to the Judiciary Committee, but it does come to the House Administration Committee, where I think there is important discussion going on about this issue that you raise about parking, even as we speak. But it was not considered in the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Yes, that is absolutely correct, and it's an important point, though. We can't extend these benefits to even former Members who have become lobbyists. They have to be carefully considered by Members. As a matter of fact, prerogatives of Members, as the gentleman knows, is being limited and is getting harder and harder to become available even to active Members of the House of Representatives.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairman, we are happy to have Mr. Rahm Emanuel, the gentleman from Illinois, who is recognized for as much time as he may consume, not to exceed 3 minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairman, I cautiously yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chair, I close the general debate by merely observing that this has been healthy. We are working under time constraints. I appreciate both gentlemen from Illinois and California in their exchanges and reflecting back on how we got to where we are. But we are moving forward now, and we are all concerned that this 110th Congress do everything in its power to make up for the lack of transparency and enforcement that may have taken place in an earlier period of time. In the last few months, we have worked to address these concerns and begin to restore the trust in the Congress, as we promised our voters that we would last November. So this is an important bipartisan start. It is not the end of reform in this area. As everyone knows, it really doesn't have an end. Madam Chair, it is in that spirit of expediting this process that I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. CONYERS. I thank the Chair. Members of the House, this is merely a truly technical revision to H.R. 2316. Sometimes technical amendments aren't really only technical. This one is, because all it does is clarify the application of the bill's provisions regarding the posting of financial disclosure forms on the Internet. The amendment makes clear that Members may omit personally identifiable information not required to be disclosed from travel and personal financial disclosure forms before these forms are submitted to the House Clerk for posting on the Internet. It ensures that the bill's heightened disclosure requirements do not become potential fodder for identity theft or any other inappropriate processes or purposes. It also directs the Clerk to detail the procedures for protecting personally identifiable information to Members. I am indebted to one of our committee members in particular, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Louie Gohmert, for working with us to ensure that Members receive proper guidance regarding the information that they are required to provide, as well as the information they are not required to provide. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak on the amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.

Mr. CONYERS. Ladies and gentlemen of the House, the former chairman of the Rules Committee has put forward a good, commonsense amendment. It was one that I recognized to have been in his previous legislation. As a matter of fact, it's improved. And there is absolutely no reason for us to have any reservations about it. I commend the gentleman. It's a good addition to H.R. 2316. And as Justice Brandeis said famously, ``Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant.'' And this is a sunlight amendment if I've ever seen one. What we want to do is make this more understandable to the American people and to the Members of Congress as well, and so I'm very pleased to accept the amendment. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairwoman, as the designee of the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie), I offer the amendment that is now at the desk.