WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday signed into law a long-debated ethics bill aimed at reining in lobbyists' influence, including a curb on their ability to lavish gifts on lawmakers.
But a favorite activity for many lawmakers still will be allowed -- accepting free tickets to college sporting events.
Lobbyists for public universities are among those who will remain exempt from a gift ban that will apply to other lobbyists, an incongruity that has drawn criticism. Also exempt are lobbyists for state and local governments and other public agencies.
"Private lobbyists can't buy members [of Congress] a sandwich, but public lobbyists can still lavish meals, sports tickets, and trips on us. It's a huge loophole that this bill ignores," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).
The legislation, lauded by backers as the most sweeping overhaul of ethics rules for Congress since the Watergate era, was passed in response to a spate of scandals that helped Democrats win control of the Congress in last fall's elections.
While Democrats cheered the bill as a major legislative triumph, a less enthusiastic Bush signed it without fanfare.
In a statement, he said the measure represented progress, but expressed hope that Congress would do more to crack down on lawmakers' earmarking federal money for pet projects.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), however, declared that the new law helped fulfill the pledge by Democrats to "drain the swamp" of corruption.
The measure limits privately funded travel by lawmakers. It also requires lobbyists to disclose campaign contributions they gather from clients, friends and others, a practice known as bundling that has gained attention in recent weeks because of Norman Hsu, the disgraced fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), a Clinton rival for the party's nomination, introduced legislation to force federal candidates to disclose their largest bundlers and the amounts raised.
The measure dictates that lawmakers make public the projects they slip into legislation, though Bush said it includes loopholes that could shield these earmarks from scrutiny. The law doubles -- to two years -- the period that defeated or retired senators must wait before lobbying former colleagues. It also denies congressional pensions to lawmakers convicted of felonies.
