Center for Responsive Politics Unveils New Lobbying Database
Free, easy-to-search Web site reveals even more of Washington’s “Open
Secrets”


WASHINGTON (March 28, 2006) – With lobbying under scrutiny in Washington
like never before, the Center for Responsive Politics has launched a free
online database that tracks the billions of dollars that corporations, labor
unions and other organizations spend each year to influence Congress and
federal agencies.
Made possible by a grant from the Sunlight Foundation, the Lobbying Database
<http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists>  on OpenSecrets.org supplements CRP’s
widely cited research tracking campaign contributions. Lobbyists and their
clients must report their activities twice a year, but many users find the
publicly available reports cumbersome and confusing. The Center’s easily
searchable Lobbying Database aims to be the most comprehensive available for
free online.
“We’re trying to make lobbying more transparent for the public, just as we
have shone light on campaign contributions for nearly 25 years,” CRP
Research Director Sheila Krumholz said. “These two forms of political
influence are so intertwined. Contributions open policymakers’ doors for
lobbyists and their clients, and politicians rely on lobbyists and their
clients to finance their election campaigns.”
By compiling and standardizing data collected from the central site for
lobbying disclosure, the Secretary of the Senate’s Office of Public Records,
CRP has designed a database that tracks lobbying of the federal government
since 1998. Users can search the data in a variety of ways:
*         By the name of a lobbying client, or the entity that paid for the
lobbying;
*         By lobbying firm or individual lobbyist, including those employed
in-house by a corporation or other organization;
*         By industry or type of interest group, selecting from a list of
more than 100—from abortion-related causes to the wine, beer and liquor
industry;
*         By the issues the lobbying was intended to influence, from a list
comprising nearly 80 categories;
*         By the more than 200 federal agencies lobbied—from the White House
to the National Endowment for the Arts.
Easy-to-read tables and graphs summarize spending as well as non-monetary
ways to measure lobbying activity. When used in concert with other features
of OpenSecrets, such as CRP’s tallies of campaign contributions by industry
<http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/index.asp> , the Lobbying Database
can paint a vivid picture of how money influences politics.
The current semi-annual disclosure system has been criticized for allowing
overly broad descriptions of lobbying activity and for undercounting
spending, among other flaws. In its Lobbying Database, CRP aims to work
within the disclosure system’s limitations and reconcile errors wherever
possible. The Center welcomes feedback and suggestions by e-mail to
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> .
“We urge users to pay attention to our methodology and understand the
limitations that the disclosure system places on the public’s ability to
track lobbying,” said Krumholz, who will act as interim executive director
following Larry Noble’s departure this month. “As always, we encourage
people to explore our Web site and tell us when they spot something curious
and worth a closer look.”
While the Web site allows anyone to research lobbying, and do it free of
charge, CRP will continue to produce its own reports and analysis through
OpenSecrets and the watchdog group’s online newsletter, CapitalEye.org
<http://www.capitaleye.org/> . Political scientist Tim La Pira, who is
completing his doctoral study of interest groups and lobbying, recently
joined CRP as its Lobbying Researcher and will maintain the new database.
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To use CRP’s new Lobbying Database, go to
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS
Since the Center for Responsive Politics’ founding in 1983, the organization
has become known as a non-partisan authority on the influence of money on
policy and elections—who spends money in politics and why they might be
spending it. Using data from the Federal Election Commission and other
sources, CRP conducts computer-based research for the news media, academics,
activists and the public at large. The Center’s work is aimed at creating a
more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more responsive government.
Support for CRP comes from a combination of foundation grants and individual
contributions. The Center accepts no contributions from businesses or labor
unions.
For more information about the Center, visit OpenSecrets.org
<http://www.opensecrets.org/> .