Lobbyists' group: Don't lift five-year ban on former feds

Joining some public interest groups in an odd bedfellows alliance, the American League of Lobbyists (ALL) has come out against President Clinton's recent loosening of restrictions on lobbying by former senior administration officials.

"It is unfortunate and regrettable that the President has, in the final days of his administration, decided to lift the ban he imposed in 1993," ALL president James Albertine said in a statement.

"The restrictions were a good idea and a great opportunity to deal with the perception that many Americans have of Washington, D.C., as a 'company town' where former government officials and lobbyists work in a revolving door manner on behalf of 'special interests' [and] at the expense of good public policy," Albertine said.

The President's lifting of the executive order means that lobbyists are now barred from lobbying their previous agency for one year, rather than the five imposed in 1993.