Tuesday, May 17, 2005 Van Hollen Sponsors Lobbying Reform to Set Higher Ethical Standard in the House Washington, D.C. - Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) today introduced legislation to set a higher ethical standard in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Van Hollen joined more than 60 other Members of Congress to introduce the legislation, called “Special Interest Lobbying and Ethics Accountability Act.”    “This Congress – both Republicans and Democrats - must be held accountable to those who sent them to Washington, by passing comprehensive legislation to reform the relationship between Congress and special interest lobbyists,” said Van Hollen.   This bill would set a higher ethical standard in the House by: • Curtailing excesses in congressional travel and ending lobbyist-organized junkets. • Slowing the “revolving door” between government and lobbying. • Enhancing lobbying disclosure and giving the American people access to more complete and timely information about who is lobbying their representatives. • Strengthening enforcement and oversight of ethics and lobbying rules. • Punishing Members who take or withhold official action based on partisan affiliation or campaign contributions   This reform bill includes tough provisions barring lobbyists from organizing or paying for junkets for lawmakers, and directs the Ethics Committee in the House to establish guidelines for allowable expenses on privately-sponsored trips.  It also includes new reporting requirements to make sure Members’ privately funded travel is fully reported and accessible to the public through a searchable, sortable database on the Internet.  It requires lobbying reports to be more complete, disclosing lobbying contacts with Members of Congress and senior executive branch officials, the amounts spent on grassroots lobbying by paid lobbyists, and the members of anonymous lobbying coalitions.    This reform also slows the “revolving door” between government and lobbying while strengthening enforcement and oversight. The bill doubles the current one-year waiting period for members, senior staff, and senior executive personnel lobbying Congress.  It requires Members of Congress to disclose if they have a job negotiation that poses a conflict of interest with their official duties.   “The unprecedented access of lobbyists has resulted in ethical scandals in which lobbyists have funded foreign travel to gain legislative favors, and this reform bill is a critical first step to setting higher ethical standard in the House of Representatives,” said Van Hollen. “I am proud to sponsor this reform, and I will fight to make it law.”