Russ Feingold: “the bill before us contains, in section 542, a provision to prohibit Senators from attending parties to honor them at…”

“the bill before us contains, in section 542, a provision to prohibit Senators from attending parties to honor them at the national party conventions if those parties are paid for by lobbyists or organizations that employ or retain lobbyists. The provision originated with an amendment that I offered to S. 1 when the Senate considered S. 1 at the beginning of the year. My amendment passed the Senate on January 17, 2007, by a vote of 89 to 5. I am pleased that the final bill retains this provision and also contains in section 305 a similar provision that will apply to Members of the House of Representatives. I wanted to take a minute to explain the purpose and operation of the provision and why I believe it was an important addition to the bill. When the Senate adopted the Reid amendment in January to strengthen the lobbyist gift ban, we took a huge step toward eliminating gifts to Members of Congress from lobbyists and groups that lobby. The final bill retained that language, and it is one of the most significant provisions in the bill.”