House Mulls Lobbyists Ban on House Floor [View All]

[Eugene]

House Mulls Lobbyists Ban on House Floor


Wednesday February 1, 2006 9:01 AM

By JIM ABRAMS

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former lawmakers who lobby their old colleagues would have to stay off the House
floor and away from the House gym under the first of what could be a series of actions by Congress
to distance itself from unseemly, and sometimes illegal, relations with lobbyists.

The House is to vote Wednesday, its first day of legislative business this year, on the change in
its rules, a prelude to more comprehensive legislation to prevent lobbyists from showering
lawmakers with inappropriate gifts, meals and trips to exotic locations.

Also on Wednesday, the House Government Reform Committee was hearing testimony on proposals
to deny federal retirement benefits to lawmakers and other federal policy-makers convicted
of crimes such as bribery and fraud.

The move to ban members-turned-lobbyists from the House chamber and gym "is not going in any way
to be the end of the process," said Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., chairman of the Rules Committee.

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Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5585505,00.html

Throwing ex-Congresspeople out in the cold? Looks more like a lame attempt
at window dressing than real reform.