Lobbyists "help provide a service" to lawmakers, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a new interview.



The Speaker rejected a proposal from an online commenter that all meetings between lawmakers and registered lobbyists be videotaped, explaining that such a thing wouldn't be feasible, and besides, lobbyists help lawmakers make up their mind.



"I've got a lot of people from a lot of different points of view who lobby me. And frankly, lobbyists help provide a service to every elected official," Boehner said in his interview with YouTube. "Because if there's any issue of any significance, you'll hear from lobbyists on both sides of the issue."



Since taking control of the House in the last election, Boehner's actually kept in place the ethics and lobbying laws Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democrats instituted when they took the House in 2007. During the transition, the new GOP majority had considered eliminating the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), but decided to keep it in place instead. (Now-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) also promised a "zero tolerance" policy on ethics during the 2010 campaign.)



Still, Democrats, at the height of the 2010 elections, targeted the top Republican and accused him of enjoying close ties to lobbyists. Critics of the Speaker often point to an instance in the 1990s when Boehner reputedly passed out tobacco industry campaign donations to colleagues on the floor of the House.



Boehner explained that he faces lobbying every day from everyone from registered lobbyists to normal citizens. Those conversations help members of Congress develop a fuller understanding of an issue.



"You can't ever read the words on a sheet of paper and understand who's doing what to who. But the time you hear from lobbyists on both sides of an issue, you've got a pretty good idea of what the bill in front of you will really do," he explained. "Then you can make an informed decision."



At the end of the day, the Speaker said, the decision on a vote was left to each individual member.



"At the end of the day, I'm responsible for how I vote," he said.



