The Enron Investigation: A Look at the Company's Lobbying in 2001

CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS
MONEY IN POLITICS ALERT
Vol. 6, #37 January 14, 2001
tel: 202-857-0044, fax: 202-857-7809
email: info@crp.org, web: www.opensecrets.org

Energy giant Enron Corp. spent $825,000 on lobbying for the first six months of 2001, according to the lobbying disclosure report Enron filed with the House of Representatives.* The bankrupt company lobbied on a gamut of issues, including energy bills, appropriations and several broadband bills that would affect the company's broadband subsidiary. Enron also lobbied for a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax, a proposal that is currently part of the House-passed economic stimulus package. If the repeal of the 15-year-old tax becomes law, Enron stands to receive a $254 million tax rebate, according to Citizens for Tax Justice.

Here is a list of the specific bills and issues Enron lobbied on, organized by topic:

H.R. 2217, Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002. All provisions.

H.R. 2229, To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the unearned income of children attributable to personal injury awards shall not be taxed at the marginal rate of the parents. All provisions. H.R. 2311, Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2002. All provisions. H.R. 2330, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002. All provisions.

OPIC Reauthorization FY '01 Appropriations
Export-Import Reauthorization
Foreign Operations Appropriations
International Monetary Fund
International Affairs Budget and Department of Energy

H.R. 1647, Electricity Emergency Relief Act. All provisions.
H.R. 1941, Electric Refund Fairness Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 1974, Western States Energy Consumer Protection Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 2274, Electricity Gouging Relief Act. All provisions.
S. 1068, Electricity Gouging Relief Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 388, National Energy Security Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 597, Comprehensive and Balanced Energy Policy Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 764, A bill to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to impose just and reasonable load-differentiated demand rates or cost-of-service based rates on sales by public utilities of electric energy at wholesale in the western energy market, and for other purposes. All provisions. Taxation/Internal Revenue Code

H.R. 1410, Internet Tax Moratorium and Equity Act. All provisions.
H.R. 1833, Gas Tax Fairness Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 1836, Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 1915, Gas Affordability Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 2079, To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose a windfall profits tax on electric generating facilities having excess profits. All provisions.
H.R. 2108, Energy Security and Tax Incentive Policy Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 2147, Save America's Valuable Energy Resources Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 2179, Renewable Energy Act for Credit on Taxes. All provisions.
H.R. 2392, Clean Energy Incentives Act. All provisions.
H.R. 3, Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 333, Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 4, To enhance energy conservation, research and development and to provide for security and diversity in the energy supply for the American people, and for other purposes. All provisions. H.R. 437, Alternative Minimum Tax Repeal Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 871, Alternative Minimum Tax Repeal Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 872, Corporation Income Tax Rate Reduction Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 288, Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act. All provisions.
S. 291, AMT and Tax Deduction Fairness Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 420, Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 512, Internet Tax Moratorium and Equity Act. All provisions.
S. 596, Energy Security and Tax Incentive Policy Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 616, Repeal AMT Relief Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 801, A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the limitation on the use of foreign tax credits under the alternative minimum tax. All provisions.

H.R. 1416, Broadband Expansion Grant Initiative of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 1542, Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 1697, Broadband Competition and Incentives Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 1698, American Broadband Competition Act of 2001.
H.R. 1765, To increase penalties for common carrier violations of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other purposes. All provisions.
H.R. 1842, Cable Consumer Rights Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 2038, Rural Broadband Enhancement Act. All provisions.
H.R. 2120, Broadband Antitrust Restoration and Reform Act. All provisions.
H.R. 2139, Rural America Broadband Deployment Act. All provisions.
H.R. 267, Broadband Internet Access Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 496, Independent Telecommunications Consumer Enhancement Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 1126, Broadband Deployment and Competition Enhancement Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 1127, Rural Broadband Deployment Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 150, Broadband Deployment Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 430, Broadband Rural Research Investment Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 88, Broadband Internet Access Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 966, Rural Broadband Enhancement Act. All provisions. Metering/Billing
Fiberoptics
Transportation

S. 235, Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2001. All provisions. Pipeline Safety

H.R. 1006, To amend the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Act of 1999 to prohibit steel companies receiving loan guarantees from investing the loan proceeds in foreign steel companies and using the loan proceeds to import steel products from foreign countries that are subject to certain trade remedies. All provisions.
H.R. 1146, American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 1564, Rebuilding America's Infrastructure. All provisions.
H.R. 1988, Trade Law Reform Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 2149, Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 2394, Steel and National Security Act. All provisions.
H.R. 518, Trade Fairness Act of 2001. All provisions.
H.R. 808, Steel Revitalization Act of 2001. All provisions.
S. 1104, Trade Promotion Act of 2001. All provisions.

*The Center obtained its copy of the Enron lobbying report from the Legislative Resource Center of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The Senate public records office, which posts images of lobbyist reports on its website, has not yet processed Enron's mid-year 2001 report, though it was filed last August. Bill numbers and titles are taken verbatim from Enron's report. The disclosure report does not include $220,000 spent on lobbying by Enron's two subsidiaries, Portland General Electric and Enron Wind Corp.

With the government-industrial complex working in the interests of the people, we can all sleep soundly at night - yeah right.

Poor Ike; he must be turning in his grave.

Forget about Enron for the moment. Our government has gotten so large and invasive that no business, large or small, can survive without lobbying (trying to influence government). Big ones do it directly, small ones through their associations. It is usually less about getting some benefit than it is about trying to keep government off their backs, though there are exceptions (for example, all the real estate developers that supported Clinton to get housing contracts). For the most part, business is a victim of a protection racket run by predatory politicians. Look what happened to Microsoft, which wasn't ponying up, when their competitors were. Any business can be indicted or shut down by regulators in nothing flat, given the hundreds of thousands of pages of laws and regulations they are supposed to follow.

The alternate minimum tax is a pretty stupid idea--LOTS of corporations (including my wife's small business) lobbied for the repeal of that monstrosity.

It's my understanding that only medium to large companies have to pay the AMT.

It's not only business. Perhaps the most ferocious lobbyists are labor unions. They operate not only with money but with naked political muscle.

Very true, especially that labor unions can, besides delivering votes, they can turn out workers. Hard to compete with.

BTW - I'm not blaming the big corporations, I'm blaming the politicians who vote in behalf of corporations/unions and not for America.

For the most part, business is a victim of a protection racket run by predatory politicians.

You succinctly sum up the situation.

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