These individuals represent an industry that has more than quadrupled in a little over three decades and an enterprise which garners annual revenues in excess of $8,000 million in Washington alone. The term lobbyist includes individuals who work in lobbying, law, and public relations firms.

Who are these highly paid people and what are they doing for their clients who want to influence Congress on foreign policy issues?

Traditionally, lobbyists approach members of Congress with a specially crafted message on behalf of their clients and gather issue specific information to take back to them. Lobbyists devise political strategies and tactics to support, initiate or block legislation, or to change laws already in effect. In some cases they define issues, write speeches or draft language for proposed legislation in the hopes that it will become law. The credible lobbyist is the consummate Washington "insider" who -- with one telephone call -- can obtain an appointment for a client with the chairman or key staff member of a congressional committee.

One such lobbyist is Thomas Hale Boggs, who works for what the National Journal describes as the "power house" Washington law lobbying firm of Patton, Boggs. Part of his firm's raison d'etre is lobbying Capitol Hill, and its connections are considered superlative. Boggs -- whose mother "Lindy" and father Hale were both members of Congress -- is said to understand Congress better than many past and present U.S. legislators.

Boggs says even very sophisticated foreign clients with interests located in the United States "for the most part do not have much of an understanding of how the federal system works here between the Congress and the Executive" branch of government, nor do they understand the political relationship between the state and federal systems. He stresses to them the importance of dealing with Congress, because many of them think they can achieve their goals simply by approaching the White House.

Boggs points out that a lot of time is spent telling the client what can and cannot be done, what obstacles must be overcome, and what costs will be incurred.

He notes that a number of foreign companies are opposed to the Iran sanctions bill -- which would impose sanctions on nations that invest in Iran or Libya or that export certain technologies to those two nations, both of which have been accused of sponsoring terrorism -- but the companies are not willing to say so publicly or to lobby against the measure as it makes its way through both chambers of Congress. They prefer to have their governments address the issue or have a trade association deal with it, he explains. Major trading partners, such as Japan, "very rarely" rely on a U.S. lobbyist directly, he adds, but will turn, instead, to an American company, bank or institution to enlist the assistance of a lobbyist.

Countries have varying reasons for hiring a lobbyist, Boggs says. Smaller or emerging nations, he says, are frequently only interested in gaining publicity for a visiting head of state or in attracting the attention of the administration and media. Although this is a "valid" function, he says, his firm does not engage in "general representation," which tends to focus on promoting the client's country or leaders.

Some of the issues that a lobbyist handles, such as defense matters, can be "very technical," he says, and in cases related to foreign military sales, for example, the client is hiring "expertise not influence." In taking on a specific task, Boggs says, a competent lobbyist must know quickly if it can be done, although the results "are not necessarily predictable."

According to Donald Massey, senior vice president of Fleishman Hillard, Inc., a public relations firm, foreign governments have "a real interest" in Congress because they are "affected by what Congress does." They are interested, he explains, because members of Congress "have a lot to say about foreign policy" and can carry out their legislative duties in ways that promote the interests of certain foreign governments. The better governments communicate their interests to Congress, he notes, "the better off they are." And a lobbyist, Massey adds, can help elevate a nation's profile in the United States through what happens in Congress, which he describes as "a magnet for press attention."

In the area of foreign policy-making, Massey says, most of the influence of lobbyists is brought to bear on such issues as the foreign aid bill and trade matters including intellectual property rights. But lobbyists also are hired by foreign clients when a nation is criticized in Congress for violations including human rights abuses and infraction of trade regulations.

If a country does not have a cogent case to make, Massey says, there is nothing a lobbyist can do. And if a rogue nation like Libya or Iran "is in the bull's eye of American foreign policy" the targeted nation will be isolated and contradicted "at every turn," no matter what course of action a lobbyist might pursue, he says.

But on some issues, he explains, if a congressional office is besieged with masses of information, a lobbyist can help "shape a message" in a way that gets attention and "priority." Doing that, he says, "is a major accomplishment" for a client.

A lobbyist plays an important role in interpreting what congressional action means for the client. Even personnel of foreign embassies representing democratic governments frequently have little understanding of the American system of government and what it means to operate under a "separation of powers concept" because they are accustomed to government under parliamentary democracies.

It is difficult for them to understand how congressional actions can block something that the U.S. President or Secretary of State has requested, Massey says. Explaining the process, providing strategic counsel, drafting letters, writing fact sheets and "helping make the case" are all part of "a constructive role" lobbyists undertake, Massey adds.

Lobbying efforts at the local level by organized ethnic and immigrant groups have been bolstered by the use of new technologies including electronic mail and facsimile machines, and Massey notes that the advent of "the information age has certainly made it easier to mobilize large groups of people."

For example, Mexican-American groups are publicizing their views on border migration issues, and other groups -- among them the Armenian Caucus and Greek-Americans -- wield considerable power on Capitol Hill. Coalitions of groups that share similar interests and common purposes have been particularly successful in influencing Congress on foreign policy issues.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has been described as one of the preeminent foreign policy lobbying groups because of its unity of purpose, membership size, and the high level of education and political involvement of its constituency.

The two main items on AIPAC's current legislative agenda are foreign aid -- Israel receives $3,000 million in U.S. aid annually -- and passage of the Iran sanctions bill.

The role of lobbyists, special interest groups and grass roots lobbying organizations was spotlighted during debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which was a major preoccupation of Congress for several years in the early 1990s. The Nation magazine describes NAFTA as the "perfect issue" for lobbyists because it was "highly technical" and replete with "arcane" details. According to Boggs, the "most effective lobbying came from U.S. companies that had an interest" in the issue.

Robert Strauss, with the corporate law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Huer, and Feld, met, according to a report in the National Journal, with a key group of undecided Democrats shortly before the House voted on NAFTA. During that meeting, Strauss -- a former Ambassador to Moscow, U.S. Special Trade Representative (USTR) and Democratic National Committee Chairman -- reportedly persuaded at least one representative to vote in favor of NAFTA.

The lobbying sector earned large sums during the NAFTA debate, with the Mexican government and business interests said to have spent some $25 million to secure the pact. Registered foreign agent Burson-Marsteller took in a reported $5 million, according to the Legal Times, and New York lobby law firm Shearman and Sterling earned a similar amount. The law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton, also of New York, collected more than $4 million from the Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.

Upon retirement, many members of Congress themselves go from Capitol Hill to jobs in the lobbying sector. They include former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, who now heads the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman and Caldwell, and former Indiana Senator Birch Bayh, who joined the general law firm of Bayh, Connaughton, and Malone. The Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, notes that a quarter of the members who left the 103rd Congress already have registered as lobbyists.

Both the executive and legislative branches recently have sought to tighten regulations on special interest groups. Legislation has been introduced in the House, for example, to ban members from representing foreign governments or political parties for 10 years after leaving elected office. There are also new regulations governing the size of gifts that may be accepted by members of the House and Senate. Members of Congress also must disclose any funds received from groups such as trade associations, like the International Automobile Manufacturers Association, that may represent a segment of an industry.

Laws which established guidelines for lobbyists are the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires the disclosure of foreign commercial and corporate activities, and the 1946 Lobby Disclosure Act, which requires lobbyists to register with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate. Congress in 1995 passed a new lobby disclosure act designed to close loopholes in the 1946 act.

In the past, references to lobbyists evoked visions of men and women in expensive attire entertaining powerful politicians. The scope has broadened enormously. Now the process is seemingly more about expertise and less about contacts. But contacts have to be broader, too, since junior members of Congress can sometimes affect the foreign policy debate in ways that only committee and subcommittee chairmen once could.

The "tensions" between the executive and legislative branches "will never disappear," Massey predicts. Given that assumption alone, lobbyists will always have a role as facilitators for their clients in the realm of foreign policy-making.