Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who is the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and several government watchdog groups also participated in the call.

The legislation would require donors who bundle contributions to disclose the names of those who contributed on their behalf; limit privately funded travel; and ban lawmakers from accepting gifts and meals from lobbyists and entities that employ lobbyists.

“This bill represents some progress towards ethics, lobbying, and earmark reform, all of which I strongly support,” Bush said Friday following the signing of the bill. The president also added that more can be done.

“The essence of successful ethics reform is not laws and restrictions, but full disclosure.  The legislation includes minimal improvements in the area of disclosure, both for lobbying and earmarks,” Bush stated. “But there is still more to be done -- and I will work with the Congress to improve upon this legislation.”

Pelosi said the next step was to create an independent body to make sure that the new rules are enforced and that the ethics committee, criticized in the past for not doing enough to police its own members, is more aggressive.

“We can pass any bill we want, [but it would not make a difference] if we’re not going to enforce it,” Pelosi said on the phone from California. “We will continue to work [to create] some kind of independent panel to make sure that the ethics rules are followed, to make sure the ethics committee functions.”

Speaking for several political reform pressure groups, Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, said, “The immediate challenge that lies ahead now is to ensure that the new lobbying disclosure law and congressional ethics rules are effectively implemented and enforced.”

Obama and Feingold, who is a longtime advocate for political and ethics reform, have introduced legislation to extend the new bundling rules to non-lobbyists.

“Russ would acknowledge that the fight was not always popular among our colleagues. The real measure of a lobbyist’s influence is not how much a lobbyist gives, but how much he raises from others. I think we can go further,” Obama said, perhaps acknowledging that pushing for stricter rules was not popular with colleagues.

One reform, posting schedules online, has been gaining currency with several lawmakers. But Pelosi would not commit to posting her public schedule, citing security concerns and noting that she mostly meets with her colleagues.

“Believe it or not, my meetings are mostly with members,” Pelosi said. “[But] if that’s where members feel comfortable, that’s excellent.”