Public Disclosure of Lobbying Act of 1979

Summary

Public Disclosure of Lobbying Act of 1979 - Requires each organization which expends more than $5,000 per quarter year for lobbying purposes to register with the Comptroller General and to update annually such registration. Requires the identification of certain persons retained for such lobbying purposes. Requires such organization to file quarterly reports concerning such lobbying activities including: (1) listing of total lobbying expenditures including each expenditure over $35 made to or for the benefit of any Federal officer, congressional employee, or Member of Congress; (2) the identification of retainees of an organization or certain employees making lobbying communications and the disclosure of certain expenditures; (3) a description of the issues for which such an organization has lobbied; and (4) known business contacts with the person whom such organization is attempting to influence. Requires that the final quarterly report identify by amount each organization which contributed $3,000 or more to the reporting organization, unless the reporting organization proves that such identification would subject the contributing organization to harassment. Exempts certain tax-exempt organizations from such reporting requirement. Specifies duties of the Comptroller General concerning the management of such disclosed information which include making copies of each registration and report required by this Act available for public inspection and copying. Makes any person who knowingly violates the registration, recordkeeping, or reporting requirements of this Act subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $100,000. Authorizes the Attorney General to institute a civil action to compel compliance with all such requirements. Directs Attorney General to notify and consult a person suspected of violating such requirements before commencing such action. Authorizes the Attorney General to issue a civil investigative demand requiring a person suspected of violating this Act to produce specific documentary material. Sets forth the procedure governing the service of such a demand and the custody of the documentary material. Permits the Attorney General to petition the court for an order to enforce such demand and permits the person served with such demand to petition for a court order to modify the demand. Directs the Comptroller General to transmit reports to the President and each House of the Congress no later than March 31 of each year concerning activities under this Act. Provides a Congressional veto of rules and regulations promulgated by the Comptroller General pursuant to this Act. Repeals the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act and specified provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act. Authorizes to be appropriated $1,600,000 for each of the fiscal years 1981-1983.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

2 official files

• Reported to House with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 5 November 1979

  Open at official source

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 8 June 1979

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.