Bloomberg News - Christian & Business Groups Protest Senate Lobbying Measure

January 18, 2007
by William Roberts

(Bloomberg) -- Christian evangelical leaders including James Dobson are being joined by business groups and the American Civil Liberties Union in opposing lobbying overhaul legislation that they say would infringe on free speech rights.

A provision in legislation in the Senate would require financial disclosure from lobbying groups, often backed by companies, religious organizations or industry groups that represent themselves as grassroots organizations to pressure Congress on issues.

Christian groups say the measure would block their efforts to pressure lawmakers on abortion, gay marriage and other moral issues such as embryonic stem-cell research. The ACLU says it would chill "core political speech,'' and the National Association of Manufacturers agrees.

"The Democrats and a few Republicans are trying now, very, very quickly to insulate themselves from the public and to do it by muzzling people like us,'' Dobson said on the Jan. 10 edition of his daily "Focus on the Family'' radio broadcast.

Proponents say the measure is necessary so citizens can know who is behind various lobbying campaigns.

"The idea is to identify and uncover attempts by special interests to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on public relations campaigns that look like grassroots efforts,'' said Celia Wexler, vice president for advocacy at Common Cause, which is backing the provision.

A vote on the measure may come as soon as today.

"We call those groups 'Astroturf' because they don't really have members, they just have money to be able to whip up interest,'' said Gary Kalman, a lobbyist with U.S. Public Interest Research Group in Washington.

Public Citizen Study

In recent years, some business groups have used misleading names to generate the impression of public support for legislation backed by corporate interests, Kalman said.

Citizens for Asbestos Reform was an organization formed and backed by insurance companies seeking to limit their asbestos- related liabilities, according to a recent study by Public Citizen, the Washington-based watchdog group backing lobbying overhaul. The Save Our Species Alliance was a group backed by forest-product manufacturers that lobbied to weaken the Endangered Species Act, according to the report. Spokesmen for the groups didn't answer requests for comment.

The disclosure requirement is part of broader revisions to lobbying regulations that the Democrat-led Senate is trying to approve by the end of the week. The legislation would require lobbyists to disclose political contributions and file quarterly reports.

The Astroturf provision would require groups that spend more than $25,000 per quarter on lobbying to publicly disclose their sources and expenditures of funds. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will introduce similar legislation in the House once the Senate acts.

Bennett Objects

"Some of these big ministries spend more than that in a week,'' said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice. The proposed measure "converts a church into a lobby organization'' and is an unconstitutional restriction on the right to free association and redress of the government, he said.

"This should be stricken from the bill,'' said Senator Robert Bennett, a Utah Republican, in Senate debate yesterday. The Senate should reaffirm and not "criminalize'' the right to free speech, to petition the government and to peaceably assemble, "all of which is involved in grassroots lobbying,'' Bennett said.

Affiliated Groups

Internal Revenue Service regulations prevent religious groups from advocating for Democrat or Republican political candidates. Dobson conducted his political advocacy in 2004 and 2006 through a separate non-profit called Focus on the Family Action.

During the latest congressional election campaign Dobson used in Focus on the Family Action to organize Christian rallies in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Memphis urging churchgoers to vote Republican.

Focus on the Family Action and others "will have to track everything we do that could influence legislation if this passes,'' including e-mails, broadcasts, advertising, phone banks, trips, speeches and fundraising letters, Dobson said.

Focus on the Family, the umbrella organization for Dobson's ministry took in $140 million in receipts in 2005, according to the group's latest IRS filings. It subsidized Focus on the Family Action to the tune of $17.9 million.

Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, said the "Astroturf'' provision "would do nothing to stop, deter, or interfere with individuals exercising their constitutional rights to petition their government for redress. We are talking about disclosure here.''

Feinstein Comments

Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said he's sympathetic to the concerns of church groups over the disclosure requirement. Failure to comply could invoke a $100,000 fine.

"I'm against non-profits having to disclose their donor lists. I think that's going pretty far,'' Hatch said in an interview.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, acknowledged the constitutional concerns Bennett raised and said that rather than strike the Astroturf provision from the measure, Democrats would work to fine tune the legislation in negotiations with the House.

"We will take a look at it in conference and try to add some fuller and closer definitions,'' she said.