Senate Lobby Rules Passed

Post-Gazette

Pennsylvania senators, Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, voted for the bill, and Mr. Santorum said criticisms of it were unfair. "This is a much tougher bill than I think anyone would have anticipated when we started this process," he said.

The Senate legislation will bar senators from accepting meals from lobbyists and force them for the first time to get pre-approval from the Senate ethics panel for trips paid for by private entities, which was how Mr. Abramoff arranged many of his lavish golf junkets for members and congressional staff.

Senators who leave Congress for the lobbying world will no longer have exclusive access to the Senate floor and must wait two years instead of one before lobbying former colleagues. Senate staffers-turned-lobbyists will face a new restriction as well; they must wait one year before lobbying not just the office where they worked but also the entire Senate in that "cooling-off period."