January 16, 2007 06:59 PM

Crosstalk Hotline:
Lobbying Rules will Muzzle Grassroots Organizations

On January 15, Crosstalk discussed Senate Bill S.1, called an Ethics Reform bill. It includes a number of provisions, some of which would limit the influence paid lobbyists can have directly on Senators and Congressmen. Some of these are commendable--such as forbidding providing gifts to legislators in exchange for their votes.

But the bill goes farther. It redefines "lobbying" to include citizen involvement through grassroots organizations, including non-profit organizations like Focus on the Family or Concerned Women for America. It subjects any organization to the same restrictions, and the same reporting requirements, as paid lobbyists in Washington.

Grassroots lobbying has long been seen as separate and distinct from "lobbying activity." If S.1 becomes law, it will mean that even talk programs like Crosstalk could be hampered in our efforts to inform you of what is happening so you can be involved.

Specifically, Section 220 of S.1 targets any organization with more than 500 supporters or an organization that communicates with 500 or more individuals. Those affected include every blogger, every church, every non-profit or any group that uses direct mail, telephone calls, newspaper or print ads, paid organizers, radio and TV ads and Internet communications.

This would require all organizations like Family Research Council, or VCY America's Crosstalk program, or even your own local church if it is involved in the issues, to go through miles of red tape, including notifying Congress 45 days prior to engaging in an Action Alert. Encouraging people to call their Senators or Representatives about an issue would be considered an action alert. Should any detail of the regulations be forgotten, there could be fines of up to $100,000 per offense. There are also requirements for regular reporting to the government on the amount of time and money spent on dealing with an issue, the people involved, and much more--reports which themselves will cost many man-hours each year to prepare and submit.

However, the legislation exempts labor unions, corporations and even foreign companies from these reporting requirements.

Senator Robert Bennett of Utah has an amendment to remove the Section 220, grassroots provisions from S.1, the section that clearly tramples on our First Amendment rights to free speech and the right of every citizen to petition his government!

Next week at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 16th, the Senate will resume consideration of S.1, the Ethics Reform bill. Between now and then, we still have the freedom to urge you to call your two U.S. Senators to let them know if you don't want our voice--and as a result, your voice--silenced by this bill.

Please call

1-800-459-1887 or
1-202-224-3121

and ask for the office of each of your U.S. Senators. Let them know your concerns about S.1, and especially Section 220 which must be removed if these restrictions on grassroots lobbying are to be stopped. To do so, the Senate needs to pass Senator Bennett's amendment removing Section 220.

In fact, you will be asking to keep the freedom for everyone to do exactly what you are doing--contacting government officials with your concerns as citizens and as their constituents.

Again, the bill will be on the Senate floor on Tuesday, January 23, so your phone calls need to be made now.

If this restrictive bill becomes law, it will be much more difficult for you to be informed about what your government is doing. It may even effect our ability to send out these Crosstalk Hotline messages!

Thanks for being active in protecting our Faith, our Families, and in this case our Freedoms guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.

The Crosstalk Team