Lobbyists Tangled in a Paperless Pursuit...

[Peter Frank]

"...The Senate posts its lobbying reports -- some filed electronically but most handed in on paper and then scanned into an Internet-ready format -- for all the world to see under the "legislation and records" section at http://www.senate.gov/ . Researchers are able to peruse the site to gain real insight and knowledge. The House, in contrast, makes reading its documents as difficult as possible. House-deposited reports are not posted on the Internet. To read them, a person must find his way to the basement of the Cannon House Office Building and wrestle with computer terminals there that offer limited search capabilities.

And here's the clincher: Even though the House will require filing over the Internet, it has no plans to put the records online. Its habit of keeping its door largely closed to public inspections will remain entirely unchanged.

That, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), 'is absurd.'

'Why would have electronic filing if it didn't put the information online so people could see it?' asked Lofgren, a member of the House Administration Committee. 'What you'd want to do is file electronically so that the data is widely searchable.' "

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