Congress's Zeal for Lobby Reform Wanes
 

Just a few months ago, when the Jack Abramoff scandal dominated the headlines, members of both parties seemed locked in a lobbying-reform arms race.

Democrats held an elaborately staged event at the Library of Congress to unveil an ethics-reform package. "We intend to change the way Washington works," declared House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Not to be outdone, Republicans had rushed out the day before, announcing their plans for equally tough measures. "We need to reform the rules," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

But lately, that kind of zeal is harder to find. As members get down to the difficult work of actually rewriting the rules that govern lobbying and ethics, they show little appetite for things like travel bans. Instead, they've focused increasingly on making the process more open to scrutiny, looking at such measures as requiring lobbyists to file more frequent disclosure reports and posting those reports on the Internet.

Read full story from ABC News.