By Jay Kim
Lobbyists have enormous power in U.S. politics. The lobbyists are generally knowledgeable and smart; they often help keep these lawmakers on their toes.
When I was in Congress, lobbyists always came into my office, or invited me to well-known restaurants to dine. Big companies like AT&T often have in-house lobbying staffs in addition to hiring outside lobbying firms.
They’ve often offered special receptions for Congressmen and their staffs with plenty of food; this is considered public relations rather than lobbying. Every summer, ice cream companies would hold tasting events in the garden of the Capitol.
It’s mainly attended with Congressional staffers and aides; however, occasionally some Congressmen would show up as well. I seldom missed that event, since I like ice cream.
This could also be considered a form of lobbying, advocating those ice cream companies. Sometimes the pork lobby would hold a pork-loin tasting event inside the Capitol building, only for Congressmen and their aides.
While Congressmen appear friendly and jovial with lobbyists on the surface, inside they tread carefully around them. There have been many scandals involving lobbyists over the years, and the related regulations are complicated and strict. Thus, lobbyists are expected to be kept close, but also at a distance.
Lobbyists have their specialty fields. The big-name lawyers in Washington usually work as lobbyists as well; I’ve been told that it’s because lobbyists can generate higher income than lawyers with a lower threshold for responsibility.
Lobbyists are generally kept on a monthly retainer, with additional money given for specific matters. Major U.S. cities will often hire Washington lobbyists; I hired a few when I was the mayor of Diamond Bar, Calif. Since the city was on a tight budget, we co-hired lobbyists specializing in local government matters with two neighboring cities, helping to share the costs.
The lobbyists were hired to inform us about relevant everyday congressional affairs, such as bills that would affect our local governments (for instance, regarding the gas tax). Lobbyists are hired by county, even state governments, as well as many foreign governments.
The lobbyists for these countries have close ties to their embassies in Washington, and play the role of preventing policies or bills disadvantageous to them and helping to build bridges between their country and the U.S.
Korea also has lobbyists in the U.S. The lobbyists that represent foreign governments are often paid very lucrative salaries; foreign governments prefer well-known lobbyists, especially those who were former Congressmen or department secretaries (even former vice presidents have been known to be lobbyists).
The lobbyists who represent Korea are often famous lawyers; they also help the Embassy of Korea with events like receptions for visiting Korean dignitaries. Most lobbyists tend to be Caucasian; I have never met an African-American lobbyist, nor even heard of a Korean-American lobbyists.
Many Korean-Americans are capable, but even the Korean government has been leery of hiring them, tending to hire Caucasians from expensive, renowned lobbying firms.
Major U.S. corporations have staff members in charge of lobbying for the corporation and hiring lobbying firms. Whenever big corporation lobbyists would come to my office, I’d ask them if they were an in-house or outside lobbyist, since in-house lobbyists tended to be more focused on the cause at hand.
Since I was a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the lobbyists that came to me were usually specialists in their field.
I was also a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and whenever I was visited by a group of foreign dignitaries, the lobbyist that represented them would generally serve as their guide and would translate the purpose of their visit.
When this happened, I would generally refuse any requests about territorial conflicts, unless it was directly related to the national interest of the U.S.
I would do so politely, agreeing with the visitors’ position, since I could fall into a trap if I involved myself in a conflict that stemmed from over hundreds of years of deep-rooted dispute. There are generally no winning situations anyway.
Most Congressmen, if asked right now, would probably refuse to look into the issue of the Dokdo islets. There is currently an ownership dispute between Korea and Japan over this uninhabitable, rocky islets; it seems obvious to me that the island is Korea’s, but the Japanese government disagrees.
While U.S. and Korean relations had been strained due to a decade of Korean rule by an anti-American administration and the recent protests over the issue of mad cow disease in U.S. beef, the U.S. Congress has the expectation of a better relationship with the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration and the U.S.-Korea relationship has been improving rapidly.
While Congress would currently take a neutral position on the Dokdo issue, a measure of time and persuasion might tip them over to Korea’s side.
Jay Kim is a former U.S. Congressman. He serves as chairman of the Washington Korean-American Forum. For more information, visit Kim’s website (www.jayckim.com).