WASHINGTON - February 23 - Today, 12 organizations, led by Alliance for Justice and American Civil Liberties Union, sent a letter to Congress opposing the grassroots lobbying disclosure provisions currently included in House and Senate lobbying reform bills. While these nonprofits applaud congressional efforts to eliminate corruption, they note that the grassroots lobbying disclosure provisions as currently written are redundant, problematic and infringe on the rights of Americans to petition their elected representatives.

"We must do everything we can to eliminate corruption in today's lobbying practices, but we cannot do so at the expense of free speech," noted Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron. "The grassroots lobbying reform provisions in these bills are flawed and will interfere with the rights of Americans to receive information about important public issues and to meaningfully engage their elected representatives. These provisions infringe on Americans' constitutional right to petition their government."

"These provisions, if adopted, would have a chilling effect on the First Amendment rights of the American people," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "The right of the people to petition the government must not be denied or abridged. Congress can and should take steps to address corruption and the undue influence of special interests without sacrificing the rights of Americans to petition government."

The text of the letter is available at http://www.allianceforjustice.org/grlrletter.pdf.

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