Interesting article on the K street situation. This is what the new HBO show Sunday nite is going to be about.
Ex-Lawmakers' Edge Is Access
Flourishing Class of Lobbyists Capitalizing on Privileges
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 13, 2003; Page A01
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) had just finished his treadmill run in the House gym in July when he spotted a former colleague, Jay Dickey, walking over from playing paddleball. Dickey, who started his own lobbying firm in January, handed Wamp a paper containing legislative language that a client was seeking from the Appropriations Committee, on which Wamp serves. Dickey's business card was attached.
"I said, 'Take this slip of paper to a staffer, and I'll get back to you,' " recalled Dickey, an Arkansas Republican trying to win federal funding for a river navigation project on behalf of a Pine Bluff, Ark., sand and gravel company.
Most lobbyists would kill for the chance to place a client's highly sought proposal in a lawmaker's hand. For Dickey and other former members of Congress, it is fairly easy. In a town in which access often translates into influence, former members of Congress have several advantages, from free parking spots on Capitol grounds to the ability to mingle with lawmakers and their aides in cloakrooms and private committee rooms.
Although many former staffers, administration officials and political aides have flourished as lobbyists, they lack the edge enjoyed by those who have served in Congress. Moreover, according to several congressional aides, some of these former lawmakers are increasingly bold in using their access for lobbying, a scenario that troubles public watchdog groups.
Several lawmakers-turned-lobbyists say they are careful not to abuse their congressional privileges. There is no doubt, however, that they belong to a special club. Former members can roam the Capitol without passing through traditional security checks, attend the Senate's weekly Democratic and Republican strategy lunches, and walk onto the House or Senate floor. As a professional courtesy, they can get appointments with former colleagues almost automatically.
During a recent House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee bill-drafting session, Dickey hovered behind the dais and persuaded Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) to show him a copy of the proposed legislation, to make sure it would authorize work on the Arkansas River project that the Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel Co. wanted. The company paid Dickey $40,000 in lobbying fees during the first six months of the year, according to public records.
It will take a few months to see whether Dickey's work will pay off. The navigation provision is in the water authorization legislation, but it has not made it into a spending bill, which is essential.
Earlier in the year, Dickey sat in a room adjoining the Senate Finance Committee to learn how senators planned to vote on the question of cutting taxes on dividends. The matter is important for another client, Stephens Inc., an investment bank.
Dickey said using his access as a former member is "like a rose petal with thorns. It can actually work against your client if you're too intrusive. You have to be careful. I'm trying to feel my way."
A House member from 1993 through 2001, Dickey said he does not brag to current and potential clients about his Capitol Hill access. "I don't go saying, 'Because I'm a former member, I'm able to get in there,' " he said.
Many interest groups, however, acknowledge the value of hiring former lawmakers. Frank Thomas, a spokesman for Stephens -- which, in addition to Dickey, has two former Senate staffers and a former Clinton administration official on retainer -- said Dickey's eight years of House service boost his lobbying clout. "Jay just has a lot of connections," Thomas said.
"The dirty little secret of Washington is these guys hang out in places mere mortal lobbyists who were not Jedi warriors cannot go," said Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity. "Of course, they conduct business in these settings. . . . You've got these former members sneaking around, cornering their former colleagues for a buck. It's obscene."
Washington boasts an array of former lawmakers who have flourished as lobbyists. They include Bill Paxon, of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and his wife, Susan Molinari, of the Washington Group (both are former GOP representatives from New York); the Clark & Weinstock duo of former representatives Vin Weber (R-Minn.) and Vic Fazio (D-Calif.); and former representatives Thomas J. Downey (D-N.Y.) and Raymond J. McGrath (R-N.Y.) of the Downey McGrath Group.
According to records, Weber has set up meetings between Greek officials and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.), and Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-Neb.).
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who helped write a 1989 law that requires departing lawmakers to wait a year before lobbying former colleagues, said these politicians have an easier time getting access to policymakers in both formal and informal settings.
"Access, I suppose, always helps outcomes," Frank said.
Access and connections help explain how Bob Livingston (R-La.), the former House Appropriations Committee chairman, helped beat back a GOP-drafted amendment that would have deprived Turkey of $1 billion in U.S. aid this spring. Many Republicans were angry over Turkey's refusal to allow U.S. troops to invade Iraq from Turkish soil, and wanted to penalize the country through an emergency spending bill up for a vote on April 3.
Livingston provided the Turkish Embassy with strategic advice and personally appealed to his former colleagues to back Turkey. He arranged for a delegation of Turkish officials to stand outside the House floor just before the vote. While other lobbyists could have stood on the same spot, few could count on friendly chats with members such as Wamp, whom Livingston had helped put on the Appropriations Committee, in 1995.
Wamp said that he was uneasy about rewarding the Turks in light of their recalcitrance, but that seeing Livingston with the country's delegation made a difference.
"There's no question that why I slowed down to talk to them and greet them is because they're with Bob Livingston," Wamp said. "I'm more willing to hear them out because he took them on, and that gives them credibility."
Wamp voted against the amendment to punish Turkey, which failed, 315 to 110.
Livingston has managed to build Washington's 10th-largest lobbying firm in four years. He and his three top aides set up shop a day after he stepped down from Congress. The four men worked to collect clients "among people we had served in Congress," Livingston said, and quickly developed a reputation for getting language inserted into appropriations bills.
"Nobody understands the appropriations process better than me," Livingston said. "If we understand the process and can get through the front door, that's primarily the reason why clients hire me."
Former members can literally get through the Capitol's front door with a minimum of fuss. Other lobbyists must enter via sometimes slow-moving lines, especially since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"That is sometimes an advantage," said former representative Bob Walker (R-Pa.), chairman of Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates. "So many people are being shut out of the process because of the security rules."
And if they are in a rush to reach a key lawmaker or staffer, former members can jump in a car and park in a congressional lot, free of charge. "No other lobbyist can do that," Livingston said. "It's a great perk, and I love it, and I hope I can keep it."
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