Dear Representative,

It is our understanding the House Committee on the Judiciary will soon markup a lobbying reform bill. During the markup, there may be an attempt to amend the legislation by adding H.R. 2093, a bill introduced by Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.), that will regulate grassroots lobbying. The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) believes H.R. 2093 places undue burdens on grassroots organizations, the businesses that assist them in their activities, and is an affront to the First Amendment because it will regulate, for the first time, private organizations communicating to their members on federal policy issues.

CCAGW is made up of individual citizens, more than 1.2 million members and supporters, who believe in our mission to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government. We notify our members in numerous ways, including email, or through our Website, about particular issues that are of concern to them. As a result, our members often choose to weigh in and let their elected representative know how they feel about a particular topic. They have a constitutional right to petition the government to redress their grievances and look to us to keep them informed about what is happening in Washington, D.C.

H.R. 2093 will place burdensome and costly reporting requirements on nonprofit groups and private companies, such as communication firms or Internet companies that help grassroots organizations get out their message. These regulations are unnecessary and will chill advocacy outreach. Frankly, it is not the business of Congress how CCAGW informs its members about current events and if they choose to, assist them in taking action. H.R. 2093 is simply a backdoor attempt to stifle local citizen involvement in policy issues.