Created page with "'''Honorarium''' (plural '''honoraria''') for public officials is a polite word for bribery. It is often referred to now as ''speaking fees''. The United States Congress..."
'''Honorarium''' (plural '''honoraria''') for public officials is a polite word for [[bribery]]. It is often referred to now as ''speaking fees''. The [[United States Congress]] eliminated members accepting honoraria in 1989.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=V8MwU86D_5EC&pg=PA498&lpg=PA498&dq=honoraria%2Bus+congress&source=bl&ots=TC3BBBmyF5&sig=dNiYlldS04MtRy7N3mgD-ZAIcCU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZpve05MPNAhUBzGMKHTDfCY8Q6AEIczAL#v=onepage&q=honoraria%2Bus%20congress&f=false]</ref> The Clinton family is reported to have accepted over $100,000,000 in speaking fees and honorarium since 2000.
Prior to 1989, members of Congress routinely scheduled daily breakfast meetings with 4 or 5 [[lobbyist]]s for which the recieved an honorarium. Members anecdotally defined honorarium as "$1000 and a bran muffin" for a 45 minute speech. Honorarium as a source of fundraising was eliminated in the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (ERA).<ref>https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/101/hr1623 </ref>