ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF THE LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995 BY THE HSUS
If you believe that the Senior Leadership of the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) has made more than one "Lobbying Contact" with Members of Congress or their respective staffs in the last five years, then there is reason to believe that the HSUS and its Senior Leadership have failed to comply with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 because they have never registered as a lobbying organization or as lobbyists with the appropriate Congressional Offices.
If every Member of Congress were to receive Hundreds, or possibly thousands, of E-Mails from their constituents which asks Six Pointed Questions, those E-Mails may shine a BIG BRIGHT SPOTLIGHT on the fact that the HSUS has been acting "ABOVE THE LAW" and should be held accountable.
You will help to BRIGHTEN THAT SPOTLIGHT if you will take less than 20 Minutes to send an E-Mail to your two U.S. Senators and to your U.S. Representative and ask six pointed questions. If you wish to do so, follow the instructions set out below and use the suggested Text for your E-Mails. And yes, send E-Mails to the Members of Congress who are supporting the HSUS Legislative Agenda. LARGE NUMBERS OF E-MAILS CAN AND DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS!!!!!! That is why the HSUS literally generates Millions of E-Mails going to Members of Congress.
1. To send an E-Mail to your U.S. Representative, Log onto www.house.gov/writerep/
2. Fill in your state and ZIP Code on the prompt that appears.
3. Add your name, address and E-Mail address on E-Mail Form for your U.S. Representative; and on the Subject Line add: LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995; and then add then add the message set out below.
4. To send an E-Mail to your Two Senators, Log onto: www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
5. Click onto the E-Mail Address for each of your two U.S. Senators.
6. Add your name, address and E-Mail address on E-Mail Form for your U.S. Representative; and on the Subject Line add: LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995; and then add then add the message set out below.
7. So that a running count of total E-Mails may be maintained, send a confirmation that the three E-Mails were sent from which State to Frank Losey: <f.losey@insightbb.com>
Suggested Text of E-Mail Message
NOTE: Resist the temptation to mention your parochial "beef" with the HSUS. This "High Road" Approach is designed to, in essence, eliminate the opportunity for a "boilerplate" response to be sent back to you which merely states "Thank You for bringing your issues of concern to my attention." Instead, the "Suggested Text" raises questions that will increase the likelihood that the Members of Congress will need to address a very, very specific violation of the Law by the HSUS, which violation is not directly related to any specific Bill in Congress. The GOAL is to raise a serious question as to the "credibility" of the HSUS. If successful, it will affect the ability of the HSUS to influence Congress. And if it results in the HSUS "registering" with Congress, this could affect its IRS "public charity" status!!!
Dear Representative/Senator______________
I would appreciate receiving your responses to the following Six Questions that relate to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. This Act, as currently written, provides that a person or organization that makes more than one contact with a "Covered Executive Branch Official" or a "Covered Legislative Branch Official," such as Members of Congress and their respective Staffs, must register as a Lobbyist or a Lobbying Organization with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate.
QUESTION 1: Do you believe that the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 should be strictly enforced?
QUESTION 2: If you believe that the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 should be strictly enforced, why has neither the Clerk of the House nor the Secretary of the Senate published specific procedures that would permit concerned citizens to report apparent violations of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to an appropriate Congressional Office?
QUESTION 3: Do you believe that a tax-exempt, public charity and its senior leadership should be required to comply with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 and register as a lobbying organization and as lobbyists with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate if they have more than one contact with Members of Congress or their respective staffs for the purpose of influencing legislation?
QUESTION 4: If you believe that a tax-exempt, public charity and its senior leadership should be required to register as a lobbying organization and as lobbyists if they have had more than one contact with a Member of Congress or his or her staff for the purpose of influencing legislation, why has the Humane Society of the U. S. (HSUS) and its Senior Leadership been permitted to ignore the registration requirements of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 when they have literally made thousands of contacts with Members of Congress and their respective staffs during the last five years? For example, in March of 2011 the Humane Society of the U.S. hosted an Awards Banquet during which they honored the 146 Members of Congress who best supported the Legislative Agenda of the HSUS in 2010.
QUESTION 5: If the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia is the Office in the Justice Department that is responsible for enforcing the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, why has Mr. Keith Morgan, the Assistant U.S. Attorney in that Office not acted on a Complaint that he received during the first week in August of 2011 - - more than four months ago - - which documented the thousands of lobbying contacts made by the Senior Leadership of Humane Society of the U.S. , and its self-described "Lobbying Arm," the Humane Society Legislative Fund that has oversight over three PACs that have submitted over 2,300 pages of lobbying-related documents to the Federal Election Commission?
QUESTION 6: Will you call Mr. Morgan or someone else in the Justice Department and ask why no action has been taken on the documented Complaint received by Mr. Morgan in early August of 2011 so that you and your colleagues in Congress may decide whether or not to repeal the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 or to ensure that it is strictly enforced?
Respectfully submitted,
