Congressional Institute

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The Congressional Institute is a Washington, D.C. organization that conducts research and hosts seminars on topics such as health care, taxes, energy, and the environment, for Republican members of Congress. The institute is a non-profit run by lobbyists and funded by corporate contributions. [1] In May 2005, 14 of the 15 board members were lobbyists.

1 Mission and expenditures
2 Executives and Board of Directors
3 Funding
4 External links

[edit] Mission and expenditures

Since 1987, the institute has spent millions of dollars to send lawmakers and their staff to the annual GOP leadership, chief of staff, and bicameral retreats. The institute has worked with the House and Senate Republican Conferences to set up retreat agendas, develop discussion materials for members, and select speakers at the institute's meetings.

The institute holds at least one retreat for Republican leaders each year, and another for all House and Senate Republicans, usually at the Greenbrier, a resort in the West Virginia mountains, or other expensive retreats in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. In 2005, the luncheon speaker at the was President George W. Bush.

Conferences involve panels on policy topics of the day, from tax reform to Social Security. "We're not an advocacy organization; we don't take stands on issues and don't try to sell solutions," said Jerome Climer, president of the organization. "We do work on complicated issues, unbundle them."

According to travel records filed by members of Congress, during the period January 2000 - June 2005, the organization spent $61,000 on 74 trips, all for Republicans. [2]

[edit] Executives and Board of Directors

Climer, the president of the institute, was chief of staff to Congressman Ed Bethune (R-Arkansas) from 1978 to 1984. Between 1985 and 1990, he served as a member of the U.S. House Republican Leadership staff; the institute's website says he was the "catalyst" for the creation of the institute in 1987.

Mary Tavenner Walker, the vice president, began her career on the staff of Senator Charles H. Percy (R-Ill) and later served as Legislative Assistant to the late Congressman Bill Emerson (R-MO). Immediately prior to joining the Congressional Institute in October 2004, she served as chief lobbyist and policy director on tax, finance, employee benefits and corporate governance issues for the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

The board chairman is Michael S. Johnson, a former Republican aide and a lobbyist for the OB-C Group. His lobbyist clients have included corporations who have donated significantly to the institute, including Honeywell, Motorola, and General Electric.

The board also includes lobbyit Dan Meyer of the Duberstein Group (Dan Meyer), David Bockorny of Bergner, Bockorny, Castagnetti, Hawkins & Brain; Dukto Group's Gary Andres, and Ernst & Young's Bruce Gates -- many of whom also have longstanding Capitol Hill ties. Meyer, for example, served as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's chief of staff.

Former board members include Kenneth Cole, a lobbyist from General Motors, and Edward Hamberger, a lobbyist and chairman of the Association of American Railroads, which spent $46 million on lobbying between 1998 and 2005.

[edit] Funding

According to the group's tax returns for 2002 and 2003, the institute had about 40 donors who gave a total of about $2.3 million each year. Most of those donors, including UPS, SBC Communications, Verizon, and Union Pacific Corporation, are represented by one or more of the lobbyists on the institute's board.