Report on Lobbying

Appointed, soon after South Dakota's Republican Senator Francis Case told of a $2,500 campaign-contribution offer from a natural-gas lobbyist, a Special Senate Committee worked on and off (mostly off) for 14 months, interviewed 146 witnesses, appealed to Senators, press and public to come forth with specific cases of crooked lobbying. Last week the committee, headed by Arkansas Democrat John McClellan, issued its report, reached one major conclusion: "One of the striking circumstances in the investigations has been the lack of specific complaints, or specific facts or information, concerning attempts to influence any member of the Senate improperly or illegally."

Nevertheless, the committee, urging that the policing of lobbyists and of campaign spending be placed in the hands of the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Comptroller General, recommended two new pieces of legislation:

1) A "Legislative Activities Disclosure Act" that would require professional lobbyists to file with the Comptroller General reports on receipts and expenditures, and to name employees paid $300 or more. Reports would also be demanded of persons starting major write-your-Congressman campaigns and from those spending $50,000 or more in any twelve months for publicity aimed substantially at influencing legislation. Maximum penalty for failure to file reports: a $10,000 fine and a year in jail. Maximum punishment for false statements: a $10,000 fine and five years' imprisonment.

2) A "Political Activities Disclosure Act" that would remove all limits on presidential campaign spending (now set at $3,000,000 for each political committee--and generally ignored). Total campaign contributions by any individual would be limited to $15,000 a year (under present law, a contributor may give up to $5,000 to as many candidates or committees as he wishes). Committees at nearly all political levels would be required to file reports with the Comptroller General.

In closing out his committee's work, McClellan proudly added a footnote to the investigation: the committee had spent only $163,271 of its $350,000 authorization--which was hardly a bargain since it had never really worked very hard at tracing the connections between lobbyists and the nation's lawmakers.

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