[Letter]

B-270875 Jul 05, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO commented on whether five federal agencies expended federal funds lawfully when they engaged in certain lobbying activities. GAO noted that: (1) only the Department of Labor (DOL) was subject to an appropriation act lobbying restriction at the time of the questionable activity and the other four agencies were subject to only the criminal statute; (2) the Commodities Futures Trading Commission's memo, the Department of Energy's letter, and the Department of Veterans Affairs' communications with its employees did not violate lobbying restrictions, since the officials involved were Senate-confirmed Presidential appointees and the activities did not constitute substantial grass-roots lobbying; (3) the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) activities did not constitute grass-roots lobbying and EPA did not provide direct support to lobbying organizations; (4) DOL did not urge members of the public to contact their congressional representatives about the relevant legislation; and (5) proposed legislation would broaden the restrictions on agency lobbying activities and would cover DOL activities. View Decision B-270875 July 5, 1996 Activities of five agencies did not violated 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1913, as that criminal statute has been interpreted by the Department of Justice. Justice has determined that section 1913 prohibits only substantial (costing $50,000 or more) agency grass-roots lobbying campaigns, i.e., campaigns in which appeals are made to members of the public to contact their elected representatives in favor of or opposition to legislation pending before the Congress. Further, Justice has determined that section 1913 does not apply to the activities of presidentially appointed officials whose appointment was confirmed by the Senate. The series of publications entitled "America's Job Fax," prepared and distributed by the Department of Labor in 1994, did not violate section 504(a) of the annual Labor-HHS appropriations act. Section 504(a) prohibits using appropriated funds for grass-roots lobbying campaigns and is violated only by agency appeals to members of the public to contact their elected officials to support or oppose pending legislation. The Honorable William F. Clinger Chairman Committee on Government Reform and Oversight House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: In your letter of May 22, 1996, you asked that we examine documents submitted in connection with hearings before the Committee on H.R. 3078, "The Federal Agency Anti-Lobbying Act." You asked that we look at these documents to determine whether the agencies involved-the Department of Energy, Labor, and Veterans Affairs (DVA), the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (FTC), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-expended federal funds lawfully. We have limited our analysis to the documents provided. We have not engaged in any additional investigative work concerning these matters. Nor have we asked for formal reports from any of the agencies involved. Accordingly, our conclusions are limited to our analysis of statements in the documents provided and applicable law. BACKGROUND Over the years, the Congress has imposed two types of restrictions on lobbying activities by Executive branch agencies and their officers or employees. First, in 1919, the Congress enacted what is now 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1913, which makes the use of appropriated funds for some forms of lobbying a crime. Since section 1913 is a criminal provision, its enforcement is the responsibility of the Department of Justice and the courts. The General Accounting Office, therefore, does not decide whether a given set of facts constitutes a violation of section 1913. We may refer possible violations of section 1913 to the Justice Department for further investigation where we have reason to believe that Justice, in applying its view of the statute, may believe a potential violation exists. The Justice Department has interpreted section 1913[1] to prohibit "large- scale publicity campaigns to generate citizen contacts with Congress on behalf of an Administration position" with respect to pending legislation. Memorandum for Dick Thornburgh, Attorney General, from William P. Barr, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, September 28, 1989.