Public Markup

1. ESTABLISHMENT—The Attorney General shall establish the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforcement Task Force.

2. FUNCTIONS.—The Task Force—

   1. shall have primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting each case referred to the Attorney General;

   2. shall collect and disseminate information with respect to the enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995;

   3. shall audit, at a minimum on an annual basis, and as frequently as deemed necessary by the Task Force, the extent of compliance or noncompliance with the requirements of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by lobbyists, lobbying firms, and registrants under that Act through a random sampling of lobbying registrations and reports filed under that Act during each calendar year; and

   4. shall establish, publicize, and operate a toll-free telephone number site to serve as a hotline for members of the public to report noncompliance with lobbyist disclosure requirement under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, and shall develop a mechanism to allow members of the public to report such noncompliance online.

3. REFERRAL OF CASES TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Section 6(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 is amended—

   1. in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘United States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ and inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’; and

   2. in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘United States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ and inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’.

The Attorney General may make recommendations to Congress with respect to —

1. the enforcement of and compliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995;

2. the need for resources available for the enhanced enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.

1. Section 6(b)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 is amended by striking ‘‘by case’’ and all that follows through ‘‘public record’’ and inserting ‘‘by case and name of the individual lobbyists or lobbying firms involved, any sentences imposed’’.