House Speaker Proposes New Lobbying Bill

News:
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert proposed putting an end to one of the most popular perks on Capitol Hill — travel paid for by private groups. Former G.O.P. lobbyist Jack Abramoff's guilty plea has made it politically difficult to defend any privately funded trips, so Denny wants to ban them all. Speaker Hastert's travel ban has to be adopted by the Senate before it can become law. Mr. Hastert also attempted to create new rules for accepting gifts. He said, "A member of Congress should be able to accept a baseball cap or a T-shirt from the proud students of a local middle school, but he or she doesn't need to be taken to lunch or dinner by a Washington lobbyist."