This is a very important piece of legislation to me, and one that I am holding the democrats responsible for. I think this legislation would definitely take affirmative steps to meeting the complaints of the American people and rewarding them for their trust in the past election. Hopefully they will follow through and not let this die - which I would also hold them responsible for in a negative way.
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The Cleanest Congress in History?
Craig Holman, May 07, 2007
Craig Holman is a lobbyist for Public Citizen?s Congress Watch.
?The cleanest Congress in history? was a big?and appropriately ambitious?promise from incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Cal., as she assumed the reins following the scandal-ridden 109th Congress.
But making that promise come true, and getting Americans to believe it, will be no easy task. As the nightly news lurches from the revolving door scandal involving Mark Zachares to the lucrative employment Paul Wolfowitz arranged for his girlfriend, it is clear that the Congress and administration still have a long way to go to win back the confidence of the American people.
An on-going wave of corruption scandals captured new headlines for the past couple weeks, including:
On April 24, Mark Zachares, former staffer on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, pleaded guilty to exchanging official favors with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff for promises of a lucrative lobbying job on K Street. Zachares agreed to assist in the corruption investigation of unnamed ?Representative #3.?
On April 19, the FBI raided the business of Roberta Renzi, wife of Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz. The congressman is the subject of a probe into a questionable multi-million dollar land deal benefiting a campaign contributor. In response, Renzi resigned from the House Intelligence Committee and took a leave of absence from two other committees.
On April 13, the FBI raided the home of Rep. John Doolittle, R-Cal., and his wife, Julie, as part of an ongoing investigation of their business ties to Abramoff. Doolittle resigned from his post on the House Appropriations Committee.
The same day, Kevin Ring, a former Doolittle staffer who went to work for Abramoff, abruptly resigned from his law firm job without a public explanation.
The probe into Renzi?s land swap was initiated by Paul Charlton, one of eight U.S. attorneys fired last year by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, contributing to speculations of partisan abuse of public office.
These breaking scandals drive home the point that cleaning up Washington takes a lot more than adding a few ethics and lobbying disclosure rules. The ?culture of corruption,? to use Pelosi?s idiom, is fraught with sex scandals, bribery, lavish gifts, luxury travel, secret deals for future employment, earmarking, money laundering and who knows what else.
This is government at its worst. And tough problems need tough solutions.
The House Democratic leadership was expected to unveil its new lobbying and ethics reform package next week, but it has been delayed again. How long will we wait for a bill and will it finally live up to the speaker?s promise?
The House leadership did, on day one of the 110th Congress, implement meaningful new ethics rules restricting gifts and travel provided by lobbyists and lobbying organizations. The Senate followed suit, approving almost unanimously the most robust package of ethics rules and lobbyist restrictions in decades. The Senate bill (S. 1) includes measures to:
Ban gifts from lobbyists and organizations that hire lobbyists;
Prohibit organizations that hire lobbyists from paying for congressional travel, other than one-day trips;
Prohibit lobbyists from attending any segment of a congressional trip;
Require quarterly, electronic filing and disclosure of all lobbyist activity;
Impose disclosure of stealth lobbying coalitions;
Provide on-line disclosure of earmarks in appropriations and tax bills;
Restrict spouses of members from lobbying Congress;
Require lobbyists to report all campaign contributions, bundling and fundraising events on behalf of candidates; and
Slow the revolving door by prohibiting former members from conducting ?paid lobbying activity? during a two-year cooling-off period after leaving office.
The House absolutely should do no less than the Senate. In fact, Speaker Pelosi?s promise requires that she carry the mantle of reform a little further by requiring for-profit businesses to disclose their funding of so-called ?grassroots lobbying campaigns,? just as most non-profit organizations must already disclose to the IRS.
Most importantly, the speaker must also create an independent enforcement agency that will ensure compliance with all of the above. Currently, enforcement responsibilities are dispersed among a crippling number of offices and committees, all of which are subservient to members and lack the public?s trust.
As more scandals unfold tomorrow, and the next day, and as more public officials fall in disgrace, now is the critical opportunity for the 110th Congress to live up to its promise.
-----------------
The Cleanest Congress in History?
Craig Holman, May 07, 2007
Craig Holman is a lobbyist for Public Citizen?s Congress Watch.
?The cleanest Congress in history? was a big?and appropriately ambitious?promise from incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Cal., as she assumed the reins following the scandal-ridden 109th Congress.
But making that promise come true, and getting Americans to believe it, will be no easy task. As the nightly news lurches from the revolving door scandal involving Mark Zachares to the lucrative employment Paul Wolfowitz arranged for his girlfriend, it is clear that the Congress and administration still have a long way to go to win back the confidence of the American people.
An on-going wave of corruption scandals captured new headlines for the past couple weeks, including:
On April 24, Mark Zachares, former staffer on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, pleaded guilty to exchanging official favors with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff for promises of a lucrative lobbying job on K Street. Zachares agreed to assist in the corruption investigation of unnamed ?Representative #3.?
On April 19, the FBI raided the business of Roberta Renzi, wife of Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz. The congressman is the subject of a probe into a questionable multi-million dollar land deal benefiting a campaign contributor. In response, Renzi resigned from the House Intelligence Committee and took a leave of absence from two other committees.
On April 13, the FBI raided the home of Rep. John Doolittle, R-Cal., and his wife, Julie, as part of an ongoing investigation of their business ties to Abramoff. Doolittle resigned from his post on the House Appropriations Committee.
The same day, Kevin Ring, a former Doolittle staffer who went to work for Abramoff, abruptly resigned from his law firm job without a public explanation.
The probe into Renzi?s land swap was initiated by Paul Charlton, one of eight U.S. attorneys fired last year by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, contributing to speculations of partisan abuse of public office.
These breaking scandals drive home the point that cleaning up Washington takes a lot more than adding a few ethics and lobbying disclosure rules. The ?culture of corruption,? to use Pelosi?s idiom, is fraught with sex scandals, bribery, lavish gifts, luxury travel, secret deals for future employment, earmarking, money laundering and who knows what else.
This is government at its worst. And tough problems need tough solutions.
The House Democratic leadership was expected to unveil its new lobbying and ethics reform package next week, but it has been delayed again. How long will we wait for a bill and will it finally live up to the speaker?s promise?
The House leadership did, on day one of the 110th Congress, implement meaningful new ethics rules restricting gifts and travel provided by lobbyists and lobbying organizations. The Senate followed suit, approving almost unanimously the most robust package of ethics rules and lobbyist restrictions in decades. The Senate bill (S. 1) includes measures to:
Ban gifts from lobbyists and organizations that hire lobbyists;
Prohibit organizations that hire lobbyists from paying for congressional travel, other than one-day trips;
Prohibit lobbyists from attending any segment of a congressional trip;
Require quarterly, electronic filing and disclosure of all lobbyist activity;
Impose disclosure of stealth lobbying coalitions;
Provide on-line disclosure of earmarks in appropriations and tax bills;
Restrict spouses of members from lobbying Congress;
Require lobbyists to report all campaign contributions, bundling and fundraising events on behalf of candidates; and
Slow the revolving door by prohibiting former members from conducting ?paid lobbying activity? during a two-year cooling-off period after leaving office.
The House absolutely should do no less than the Senate. In fact, Speaker Pelosi?s promise requires that she carry the mantle of reform a little further by requiring for-profit businesses to disclose their funding of so-called ?grassroots lobbying campaigns,? just as most non-profit organizations must already disclose to the IRS.
Most importantly, the speaker must also create an independent enforcement agency that will ensure compliance with all of the above. Currently, enforcement responsibilities are dispersed among a crippling number of offices and committees, all of which are subservient to members and lack the public?s trust.
As more scandals unfold tomorrow, and the next day, and as more public officials fall in disgrace, now is the critical opportunity for the 110th Congress to live up to its promise.
