Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee counters China lobbying[The Tribune]Friday, 17 March 2009, 9:45 a.m.
The bill
would force foreign delegates involved in any influence of state
legislation to register as lobbyists, subjecting them to all
requirements and restrictions
 |
| Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee speaks at “A Day Commemorating Tibet” held at the State Capitol in Sacramento on 2 March 2009/Photo:Friends of Tibet |
Still
smarting from the defeat of his resolution that the state officially
recognize His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibet last month, Assemblyman
Sam Blakeslee has taken aim at the Chinese government.A San
Luis Obispo resident who represents the 33rd Assembly District,
Blakeslee has introduced a bill that would require agents of a foreign
government who lobby for or against state legislation to be registered
as lobbyists.His bill, AB 1334, is in response to the Consulate
General of the People’s Republic of China’s opposition to his
resolution marking His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibet Awareness Day.
Under pressure from the Chinese government, a vote on his resolution
was blocked and the measure was sent back to the Assembly Rules
Committee.“This is not some theoretic issue,” Blakeslee, R-San
Luis Obispo, said in a prepared statement. “Representatives of the
Chinese government entered this building and defeated a measure. It’s a
shocking breach of the sovereignty of this body. The public needs to
know that we act solely in their interest, not at the behest of any
special interest, foreign or domestic.”Federal regulations cover lobbying activities by “foreign agents,” but California has no such restrictions.Shandon
rancher William P. Clark backed Blakeslee’s bill, saying in a letter to
the assemblyman: “In my years as Chief of Staff to Governor Ronald
Reagan and again as Deputy Secretary of State and later National
Security Advisor to President Reagan, I do not recall any case of
foreign consular officials lobbying at our state level in such a
blatant and aggressive way. To suggest that such activity is irregular
is to state the obvious; in fact, such actions appear to be
inappropriate.”AB 1334 requires foreign agents engaged in
lobbying to register with the secretary of state and subjects them to
all of the registration, disclosure and gift limit requirements and
prohibitions imposed upon lobbyists by the Political Reform Act.“The
Chinese government is the only special interest I’m aware of that’s
getting away with organizing overseas junkets, hosting dinners for
legislators at the Consulate General’s home and taking positions on
bills without a single disclosure requirement,” Blakeslee said in his
news release. “All special interests should play by the same rules.”
