WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democrats outlined their counterproposal for a crackdown on lobbying yesterday while branding the Republican Party as "corrupt" and singling out Sen. Rick Santorum as an example of what they view as the ethical missteps by the Republican Party.

In an elaborate event that might be more aptly described as a kickoff rally for the 2006 campaign, more than 50 Democrats gathered beneath the ornate columns of the Great Hall in the Library of Congress as their House and Senate leaders, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, respectively, promised "honest leadership and open government."

The two leaders laid out just the broad outlines of their proposal, but they argued Republicans have fostered "a culture of corruption" by pointing to the legal troubles of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who recently pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy to bribe lawmakers, and I. Lewis Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, who was indicted for perjury, among other counts.

Mr. Reid mentioned Mr. Santorum twice by name during his brief speech. The Nevada Democrat criticized the Pennsylvania Republican's role in developing the Senate Republicans' version of new lobbying restrictions, a role Mr. Santorum publicly announced Tuesday.

Mr. Reid argued that it was inappropriate for Mr. Santorum to draft the legislation, because of his participation in the K Street Project -- an effort to expand the Republican Party's power in top lobbying firms, which got its name from the street where many Washington lobbying firms have their offices.

The Washington Post reported in 2002 that Mr. Santorum hosted meetings where the K Street project's leaders discussed a list they had tabulated of the political contributions by lobbyists. The Post reported that the list was intended to determine lobbyists' party loyalty with the ultimate goal of scaling back the access of Democratic-leaning lobbyists to lawmakers.

"To have someone who is as responsible as anyone in the world for the K Street Project, Mr. Santorum, stand in this Capitol and say that he and his pal Tom DeLay and others are going to reform Congress is like saying we're going to put Brownie back in charge of FEMA. He's going to reorganize FEMA -- Michael Brown, the infamous "You're doing a good job, Brownie."

Democratic leaders described the K Street project as a "pay to play" scheme yesterday, and when asked whether he was suggesting that Mr. Santorum had done anything illegal, Mr. Reid said it was "very unethical."

Mr. Santorum's campaign spokeswoman Virginia Davis said: "Actions speak louder than words, and Senator Reid is choosing to politicize this process with his rhetoric. Senator Santorum, on the other hand, is working in good faith with Senator [John] McCain to craft a broad reform package focused on making the Congress more transparent and more accountable to the public. Senator Santorum has a long history of fighting for congressional reforms, and is a strong leader to head up the Senate's lobbying reform efforts."

In interviews with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mr. Santorum has acknowledged that he holds the weekly "K Street meetings" with lobbyists to discuss the party's message, as well as job openings at Washington lobbying firms. But he has repeatedly said he never put pressure on the firms to hire Republicans. In November, he said job candidates are discussed merely to ensure "our best and the brightest are being positioned well to interview for these positions."

Democrats outlined just a broad sketch of their plans yesterday, as Republicans did on Tuesday.

The Democratic proposal discussed yesterday would include some elements of the plans introduced last year by Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., and Reps. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., and Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., such as requiring more frequent reporting by lobbyists, doubling the prohibition on lobbying by former members and congressional staffers from one year to two and placing tougher restrictions on gifts such as meals paid for by lobbyists.

The Democrats also said they would tighten the rules for member travel paid for the non-partisan, non-profit organizations known as IRS 501c3 groups. Democratic leadership aides said the legislation would require the groups to certify that the travel was not arranged by lobbyists.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said Tuesday that he favored a complete ban on private travel.

Ms. Pelosi, D-Calif., said yesterday that a major difference between the tentative elements in the Republican plan and the Democratic proposal was that Democrats would "kill the K Street Project." But the Democratic leadership aides could only point to one provision in the bill that directly addressed the alleged activities of the K Street project participants.

They said a new criminal provision would be added to the law explicitly stating that it is illegal for a member to promise or threaten anyone -- such as top officials in a lobbying firm -- that they would withhold "an official action" -- such as blocking a piece of legislation -- on the basis of who that firm chose to hire.

The Democratic aides acknowledged that the law could already be interpreted to bar that kind of activity by a lawmaker. But they said it was important to make the law more explicit in response to the allegations surrounding the K Street Project.