Block on foreign lobbying by ex-officials could become 'seismic event'

 

http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2012/07_25/ba.asp?

 

Block on foreign lobbying by ex-officials could become 'seismic event'

A bill working its way through Congress has the potential to alter the dynamics of U.S. foreign policy by prohibiting former senior U.S. government officials from lobbying on behalf of foreign countries for a decade after leaving office.

Introduced by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), the bill would prohibit the president, vice president, members of Congress, and other officers of the executive branch "from lobbying on behalf of foreign governments or instrumentalities for 10 years after leaving office."

Rep. Frank Wolf: "Why should somebody who had been an ambassador or CIA station chief then go out and work for that country?"

Wolf introduced the Foreign Lobbying Reform Act in March. It was inserted as an amendment to the 2013 Financial Services and General Government spending bill, which passed the House Appropriations Committee by voice vote on June 20. It is now headed for a floor vote by the full House and then on to the U.S. Senate.

The ban would have major implications for U.S. government policies towards countries that former senior government officials have taken on as clients after leaving office. The legislation singles out countries certified by the State Department as repressive, including Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.

"Why should somebody who had been an ambassador or CIA station chief then go out and work for that country?" after leaving office, Wolf said in an interview with Voice of America on June 29.

"They have top secret information from all the security briefings and they can take that and turn it against the people," he said, referring to the Sudan.

Wolf is also concerned about China's pervasive influence in Washington through lobbying by former U.S. government officials, including former Cabinet members and ambassadors. He was particularly alarmed by recent lobbying efforts on behalf of China's telecommunications giant, Huawei.

The lobbying industry on K Street has taken notice of Wolf's legislation.

"The ground shifted beneath of the feet of top-tier Washington lobbyists with last month's passage of the Foreign Lobbying Reform Act, introduced by Rep. Frank Wolf," said an article posted on Lobbyingfirms.com, an industry website.

"If Wolf's legislation goes on to be approved by the Senate, that rumble could well become a seismic event," the article stated.

 

 

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