Ethics package clears Senate

WASHINGTON – The Senate passed an election-year ethics package Wednesday that was heavy on disclosing lawmaker contacts with lobbyists but light on outright prohibitions – and with no independent office to police it all.

The legislation would bar lawmakers from accepting gifts or meals from lobbyists or moving quickly to lobbying jobs after retiring. But members of Congress could still use corporate jets for the price of a first-class ticket and accept free lodging, travel and meals from non-lobbyists.

“Trust is the foundation of our democratic government,” Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said moments before the Senate voted 90-8 for the first lobbying overhaul bill in a decade. “With the public opinion of Congress at an all-time low, we have to do a better job of retaining that trust and that confidence.”

The legislation also seeks to restrain earmarks, those thousands of special projects that make their way into legislation. Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., went to prison this year after using the earmark process to help defense contractors who had given him bribes.

The House is now working on its version of the bill, which also is expected to emphasize greater disclosure of lobbying activities. House leaders are pushing for a provision to restrict political groups that are permitted to accept donations of unlimited size. Such groups have tended to favor Democrats, and Senate Democrats vowed to keep that out of the final bill.

The bill would ban lobbyists from giving gifts or meals to lawmakers, and would require lobbyists to file quarterly electronic reports of their activities, up from the current two times a year.

Lobbyists also would be required to disclose their contributions to officeholders and political fundraisers and their “grass-roots” lobbying activities – helping clients to encourage the general public, through mass mailings or ads, to contact federal officials.

The bill requires senators to get pre-clearance from the ethics committee before embarking on privately funded trips and to reveal who was on board when accepting rides on corporate jets.

It also requires lawmakers and other senior executive branch officials to wait two years, up from the current one year, before accepting jobs as lobbyists trying to influence the institution where they formerly served.

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