Laws for sale.

• Author: Cook, Gareth
• Position: Republicans in Congress let lobbyists write laws

Washington state's Republican Senator Slade Gorton was as eager as a six-year-old with a brand-new toy. The draft for a new Endangered Species Act had just been completed, and he wanted to introduce it on the floor of the Senate as soon as possible. But one Gorton aide advised caution. "It is important," she wrote in a memo, "that we have a better than adequate understanding of the bill prior to introduction.... The coalitions should have a section by section general summary of the draft bill together today."

The "coalitions" the aide referred to were a collection of industry groups--most notably paper and timber companies--that had much to gain from eviscerating the Act's protections. The reason the coalitions had the knowledge to provide summaries--and the reason the Senator did not have "a better than adequate understanding" of the bill--was that Gorton, who had received hefty campaign contributions from the coalitions, simply let them draft the new legislation themselves.

Such stories are becoming commonplace on Capitol Hill, prompting many to ask whether the Republicans are indeed living up to their promises. If the Republicans had a central message in the 1994 elections, it was this nugget of quasi-populism: It's time to throw the bums out and change the way Washington conducts its business. This broad-ranging philosophy, much more than the individual items of the Contract With America, was the GOP's true mandate. Polls show that most voters were not even familiar with the Contract's details. Rather, many were energized by the sense that Republicans would break through the partisan dams and challenge Washington's entrenched elite.

Even liberal commentators seemed ready to admit that the Republicans were delivering: congressional staff cut by a third; useless committees dropped; a legislative checklist completed. It is hard to recall a time when "Accountability" and "Responsibility," earnestly capitalized, were such popular words on Capitol Hill. Finally, proclaimed Republicans, the very culture of Washington was being changed.

But the Republicans' work on one of their top legislative priorities--the reform of government regulation--tells a very different story. From behind the Capitol's closed doors emerges a portrait of everything voters hate about Washington: special interests laying down fat campaign contributions to gain a Congressman's ear and, at times, his pen.

To be sure, the lines between lobbyist and lawmaker were blurry in the Democratic Congress; both parties have a soft spot for special interests. But under the Republicans the combination of influence and money is even more combustible. The people's new representatives are openly targeting well-funded interests and giving these interests license to rewrite laws which can directly boost their bottom line. With the Republicans, notes Alex Benes of the Center for Public Integrity, "it's more open, more audacious. They make no bones about it."

Indeed, instead of challenging Washington's lobbyists--who, before the election, Gingrich blamed for "a grotesque distortion of the public will"--the would-be revolutionaries have been tripping over themselves to embrace them in an efficient effort to extract as much money for the 1996 campaign as they can. And when the soft touch hasn't worked, the GOP has been more than willing to issue threats.

Before the election last fall, Gingrich laid down a tough line with the Political Action Committees (PACs): "For anybody who's not on board now," he said, "it's going to be the two coldest years in Washington."

With the election won, their message got even tougher: It's not enough to give to the Republicans; PACs must also stop giving to the Democrats. Bill Paxon, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, distributed to Republicans a list of the 400 largest PACs, breaking down their giving history by party. GOP congressmen, Paxon said, should know who their friends are.

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