House OK's changes to rules on lobbying

WASHINGTON -- The House yesterday narrowly approved a series of changes to ethics and lobbying rules, despite fierce opposition from Democrats and government-watchdog groups who denounced the bill as meaningless.

The measure, crafted in response to embarrassing scandals involving members of Congress, would force lobbyists to file more frequent reports regarding their contributions to candidates and their advocacy on legislation.

It would also make it easier to strip lawmakers' pet projects out of spending bills, and deny pensions to members of Congress who are convicted of official misconduct. Under the new rules, members would still be allowed to take privately funded trips, but must get permission from the House ethics committee first.

''This legislation will enhance transparency and accountability in government," said House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, a California Republican. ''It's very important to do what we can to enhance the level of trust that the American people have in their elected representatives."

The House voted, 217 to 213, to approve the bill, minutes after a stronger alternative Democrats proposed was defeated by just three votes. Eight Democrats voted for the Republican-sponsored bill, and 20 Republicans voted against it -- including Representatives Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley of New Hampshire and Nancy L. Johnson, Christopher Shays, and Robert R. Simmons of Connecticut.

A conference committee of House members and senators will now work out the differences between yesterday's bill and a roughly similar one the Senate passed in March. President Bush has indicated he supports reforms to lobbying laws.

Despite overwhelming Republican support, the House measure falls well short of the sweeping changes leaders promised following two scandals: an influence-peddling investigation that led disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff to guilty pleas, and the million-dollar bribery conviction that put former GOP representative Randy ''Duke" Cunningham in federal prison. Critics pointed out that the very loopholes Abramoff's case made evident -- lobbyists' use of private jets, expensive meals, and lavish, free travel to influence lawmakers -- weren't closed by the package the House passed.

Under the bill, members of Congress can still fly on corporate-owned aircraft if they pay the owner the equivalent of a first-class plane fare, and lawmakers and their top aides can become lobbyists after just one year out of office. Lobbyists are still allowed to hand out gifts to members of Congress worth up to $50, despite House leaders' initial vow to lower the value limit to $20.

In addition, a proposal to ban free trips through the rest of this year was jettisoned on the House floor yesterday. Instead, lawmakers can go on such trips if the ethics committee clears it.

''This is not real reform -- it's a sham," said Representative Martin T. Meehan, a Lowell Democrat who has led his party's efforts to add more muscle to ethics and lobbying laws. ''This bill is not going to fool the public."

Watchdog groups said Congress is missing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to remake the way Washington does business.

''This bill is really a fraud on the American people," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, a nonpartisan organization.

The high-profile scandals have trained public attention on the need for change. Aside from the Abramoff and Cunningham convictions, former House majority leader Tom DeLay was forced to resign his leadership post and is leaving Congress under indictment, and various allegations and investigations could envelop more than a dozen members of Congress. Yesterday, a businessman pleaded guilty to bribery charges stemming from an investigation of Representative William Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat. Jefferson has not been charged in the matter.

House leaders conceded that the lobbying reform bill doesn't go as far as they had once promised, but said changes were necessary to accommodate objections by members of both parties. Dreier said House leaders will work on improving the bill during negotiations with the Senate. ''This is no time for us to recoil," he said. ''Searching for storm clouds on a clear day is a recipe for inaction and defeatism."

Republicans said the vote improves their credentials as reformers heading into this fall's elections. Democrats, however, plan on picking up House seats by portraying the GOP as mired in a ''culture of corruption."

Several Republicans noted that the bill cracks down on special projects in legislative spending bills, known as ''earmarks." The bill requires public identification of the sponsors of each earmarked project, and makes it easier for rank-and-file members to challenge and stop those projects.

Still, Democrats said they'll use the lackluster changes as evidence against the Republicans. Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called yesterday's measure the ''incredible shrinking bill."