Mr. President, S. Res. 460 concerns a civil action filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The National Association of Manufacturers is challenging the constitutionality of…
Mr. President, S. Res. 460 concerns a civil action filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The National Association of Manufacturers is challenging the constitutionality of section 207 of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, which amended the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to strengthen the reporting requirements for coalitions and associations that engage in lobbying activities.
As amended, the law mandates that registrants disclose the members of their organization that contribute more than $5,000 in a quarterly period to the lobbying activities of the organization and ``actively participate in the planning, supervision, or control of such activities.'' Under prior law, disclosure was required of those members who contributed at least $10,000 for lobbying semiannually but only if those members ``in whole or in major part'' planned, supervised, or controlled such lobbying activities.
The plaintiff National Association of Manufacturers alleges that its members face sustained injury to their first amendment rights, including their right to anonymous policy speech, and seeks to prevent the enhanced disclosure requirements from taking effect
on the initial quarterly period filing date, April 21, 2008.
NAM named as defendants the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Clerk of the House. The Secretary and the Clerk are responsible for providing guidance and assistance on lobbying disclosure requirements, receiving lobbying registration and report filings, reviewing, inquiring, and verifying the accuracy of the filings without investigating, notifying lobbyists that appear not to be in compliance with the law, and notifying the U.S. attorney of lobbyist who have been so notified and have failed to submit an appropriate response. The U.S. attorney has the duty to enforce the disclosure requirements through civil, and, under the new law, criminal, actions.
This resolution authorizes the Senate legal counsel to represent the Secretary of the Senate to defend the constitutionality of the lobbying disclosure amendment in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act and to seek dismissal of the action, in conjunction with counsel for the House of Representatives and the Department of Justice.
Senate counsel will present to the court the bases for the Congress's judgment, after more than a dozen years of experience under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, that enhanced reporting requirements are necessary to inform Congress and the public of the identity of those organizations actively participating in lobbying the Federal Government. As Justice Louis Brandeis famously wrote, ``Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.''
The lobbying amendments enacted last year were an important part of the Congress's efforts to restore public confidence through integrity and openness in Government and lobbying activities. Disclosure of the identities of organizations that actively participate in supervising or planning lobbying campaigns will yield a sizable public benefit while imposing a modest burden on the exercise of the right of organizations such as the National Association of Manufacturers freely to associate to petition the Government in furtherance of their legislative agenda.
