Ethics: News Archives: 2006Dec. 21, 2006 -- Reform Groups Urge House Members to Support Establishment of Office of Public Integrity, Set Forth Essential Elements for Office Reform groups sent a letter today to House members urging them to publicly support the establishment of an Office of Public Integrity (OPI) to help enforce the House ethics rules. The letter is accompanied by a one-page summary that sets forth essential elements for an OPI.
To read the full statement, click here.
Dec. 5, 2006 -- Reform Groups Urge House Members to Support Essential Ethics and Lobbying Reforms Below for your information is a letter reform groups sent today, urging House members to support essential ethics and lobbying reforms. The letter is accompanied by one-page summaries that set forth these essential ethics and lobbying reforms.
According to the letter, the reforms enacted by the House must be comprehensive, effective and loophole-free in order for the reforms to work and be publicly credible.
The reform groups supporting these essential reforms include the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG.
To read the full statement, click here.
Nov. 9, 2006 -- Newsflash: Voters Fed Up With Congressional Corruption Contrary to conventional wisdom, Tuesday's Election Day results showed that American voters reached a breaking point in their tolerance of congressional corruption. The scandals, investigations, indictments, resignations and plea agreements just kept coming in a steady stream, and congressional approval ratings continued to sink.
To read the full statement, click here.
Nov. 9, 2006 -- Reform Groups Call for Immediate Action by New Congress on Lobbying and Ethics Reforms, Stress Need for Independent Ethics Enforcement Entity On Tuesday, voters sent a powerful message to members of Congress that they must address the extraordinary corruption, ethics and lobbying scandals in Congress, and must do so quickly.
Tuesday's exit polls showed that voters considered corruption and ethics problems as their greatest concern, with 42 percent of voters responding that they were ''extremely concerned'' about corruption and ethics in Washington.
While all of our groups agree that reforming the nation's campaign finance laws is essential to addressing the corruption and lobbying scandals, our focus today is on the need for immediate action by the new Congress to pass comprehensive and effective ethics and lobbying reforms.
To view the full statement, click here.
Oct. 11, 2006 - Reform Groups Call on Speaker Hastert and Democratic Leader Pelosi Each to Make Public Commitment Now to Lead Effort Next Year to Overhaul Failed House Ethics Enforcement Process Reform groups sent letters today to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), calling on each of them to make a public commitment now to lead an effort next year to overhaul and reform the failed House ethics enforcement process, regardless of which party controls the House in the next Congress.
The reform groups in the letters also called on Speaker Hastert and Democratic Leader Pelosi each to publicly announce now their support for the creation of an independent ethics enforcement entity to play a central role in a new House ethics enforcement process.
The reform groups requested Speaker Hastert and Democratic Leader Pelosi to provide ''a timely response to the requests in our letter.''
The reform groups include the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG.
According to the letter from reform groups, ''Our organizations believe that regardless of which party controls the House in the next Congress, it is essential to fundamentally overhaul the process for enforcing the House ethics rules.''
The letter states, ''The performance of the House Ethics Committee in this Congress has been a complete failure and the House ethics enforcement process today has no credibility with the American people.''
The letter adds, ''The Ethics Committee to this day has never publicly announced or undertaken a full investigation into lobbyist Jack Abramoff's various scandalous activities in connection with a number of House members.''
The letter continues, ''The House Ethics Committee did not even function in 2005. And with the House now gone for the 2006 elections, the Ethics Committee still has no public record of having taken any actions against any Representative or congressional staff member in connection with the worst corruption scandals in the House in thirty years.''
The letter states, ''At the core of the problems with the current House ethics enforcement system is the absence of any independent entity to play a central role in the enforcement process.''
According to the letter, ''The refusal last week by the House Ethics Committee, which consists of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, to appoint an outside counsel to assist the Committee in the Foley matter is indefensible and only serves to compound the public credibility problems of the Committee.''
The letter states, ''The establishment of an independent ethics enforcement entity is embodied in bills introduced in this Congress by Representatives Marty Meehan (D-MA) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) to create an independent Office of Public Integrity in Congress (H.R. 4799), and by Representatives Mike Castle (R-DE) and Jim Leach (R-IA) to create an independent Ethics Commission in Congress (H.R. 4920).''
The letter continues, ''House members were denied the opportunity to even consider this vitally important concept earlier this year when the House Rules Committee blocked an effort by Representatives Meehan and Shays to offer their proposal as a floor amendment to lobbying and ethics legislation.''
The letters to Speaker Hastert and Democratic Leader Pelosi conclude:
Our organizations call on you to make a public commitment now to lead an effort to overhaul and reform the failed House ethics enforcement process next year, regardless of which party controls the House in the next Congress. We also call on you to publicly announce now your support for the creation of an independent ethics enforcement entity to play a central role in a new House ethics enforcement process.
Similar letters were sent to House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO).
To read the letter sent to Speaker Hastert, click here. To read the letter sent to Rep. Pelosi, click here.
October 3, 2006 -- Foley Scandal Shows Urgent Need for Office of Public Integrity: Statement of Meredith McGehee, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director There have been too many scandals and too little accountability on Capitol Hill. The Congressional ethics process is broken and former Representative Mark Foley must be the straw that breaks the camel's back and makes Congress admit its own dysfunction.
Words and outrage are nice, but meaningful, reasonable action is what is needed. The creation of a Congressional Office of Public Integrity is the place to start. Congress has proven again that it cannot police its own. The growing list of convictions, plea agreements and resignations can no longer be dismissed as a "bad apple" or a "few bad apples." And who knows what other scandals may still be unearthed by Justice Department investigators or journalists?
The current congressional ethics process is beyond repair, either paralyzed by partisan gridlock or handcuffed by an approach which puts accommodation above enforcement. When it comes to ethics enforcement, more of the same will give us more of the same. Of course, t he Speaker of the House decides who sits on the ethics committee for his party. Enlisting the services of an outside counsel is the minimum that must be done in the Foley case, but even then, the process remains too flawed and the use of outside counsel is only a temporary fix that doesn't get at the underlying systemic problems. Will there only be unbiased ethics enforcement when the behavior of a Member hits the front page of every paper in the nation and that behavior is so reprehensible that the public demands an outside investigation?
The establishment of an Office of Public Integrity, like the one proposed by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), would create an independent, nonpartisan and professional office in both Houses of Congress to enforce ethics rules. The House and Senate ethics committees would no longer serve as the investigators, prosecutors and judges of potential ethics violations by their own Members, a process of inherently conflicting responsibilities. No matter what party is in power, the current Congressional ethics process has proven a fiasco and must be overhauled with an Office of Public Integrity at its core.
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Sep 15, 2006 -- Statement of Meredith McGehee on Rep. Ney's Plea Deal "Despite what congressional leadership is saying, the growing list of plea agreements, convictions and indictments is not just a case of a few bad apples. And the familiar refrain that a guilty plea is another example showing that 'the system works,' just doesn't hold water. These all-too-familiar excuses from the leadership are simply not true and a dodge from accepting responsibility."
To read the full statement, click here.
Sep 14, 2006 -- Statement of Meredith McGehee on House Rules Changes on Earmarking "How little was delivered after so much was promised is shameful. The resolution passed today on earmarking fails on the only account that matters - it fails to address the corruption issues in lobbying and ethics laid bare by the Abramoff scandals."
To read the full statement, click here.
Sep 7, 2006 -- Reform Groups Challenge Members of Congress on Failure to Deal With Worst Congressional Corruption Scandals in Decades Reform groups sent a letter today challenging members of Congress on their failure to deal with the corruption scandals in this Congress and calling on Members to make a commitment to fight for the lobbying and ethics reforms that are essential to restoring the integrity of Congress.
To read the full statement, click here.
July 31, 2006 -- Meredith McGehee in Bangor Daily News: New Ethics Enforcement Mechanism for Congress "Many congressional observers thought that the flurry of investigations, convictions and negative press surrounding the scandal involving super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff had finally created the perfect storm to prompt Congress to pass real reform. After all, a recent Gallup Poll found that a whopping 85 percent of Americans see congressional corruption as a serious problem."
To read the full op-ed, click here.
July 21, 2006 -- Myth of Current "Lobbying Reforms" Spelled Out for Members In a letter sent today to all House Members, the Campaign Legal Center urged Members to co-sponsor the Ethics and Lobbying Reform Act of 2006 (H.R. 5677); the letter included a detailed comparison of current law with the various reform proposals before Congress. Introduced by Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA), H.R. 5677 offers a set of needed ethics reforms that would address some of the most egregious ethics and lobbying abuses.
The chart provided to Members clearly reveals that the changes proposed in the bills that passed the House (H.R. 4975) and Senate (S. 2349) are purely cosmetic with the goal of fooling as many voters as possible in an election year. The Ethics and Lobbying Reform Act of 2006 would make substantive changes to a system that is clearly out of kilter and has driven Congressional approval ratings to historic lows. The changes proposed by Representative Shays and Meehan stand out in stark contrast in the side-by-side comparison with current law and the sham bills passed by the House and Senate.
To view the chart comparing current law to the various reform proposals, click here.
Below is the letter sent to all House Members.
_____________________________________
July 21, 2006
Dear Representative:
On behalf of the Campaign Legal Center, we are writing to urge you to join in sponsoring H.R. 5677, the Ethics and Lobbying Reform Act of 2006 introduced by Representatives Chris Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA). The Shays-Meehan bill represents real ethics and lobbying reform and highlights crucial measures conspicuously omitted from the bill that recently passed the House.
Outlined below are the key provisions that distinguish H.R. 5677, the Shays-Meehan legislation, from the woefully inadequate bill the House passed earlier this year:
- Bans private interests that lobby from funding congressional travel: H.R. 5677 would prohibit private interests that lobby from paying for trips taken by Members and staff. Lobbyists may not plan, arrange, or participate in privately financed trips. Private interests that do not lobby must certify that they are in compliance with these restrictions.
- Requires Members to pay charter rates for flights on corporate jets: This provision would require Members to pay for flights on corporate jets at charter rates rather than reduced rates.
- Bans gifts to Members: H.R. 5677 would ban all gifts to Members and staff other than those subject to the existing gift rule exemptions. It would also close the loophole allowing lobbyists to pay for parties to "honor" or recognize Members at national conventions.
- Establishes an Office of Public Integrity: This legislation would establish an Office of Public Integrity (OPI) to introduce an independent voice into the ethics process and keep partisanship out of the House ethics system. The complete inaction of the House Ethics Committee in the 109th Congress proves that the current system does not work and the House must do something to change this broken system.
- Requires lobbyists to disclose the campaign funds and financial benefits they provide to Members: H.R. 5677 would require lobbyists to disclose on lobby reports all financial contributions made to benefit Members, including campaign contributions, and contributions to foundations and other entities controlled by Congress. In addition, disclosure would also be required for fundraising events hosted, the amounts raised, and the contributions made by lobbyists to cover the costs of meetings, conferences, events or retreats held for a Member's benefit.
- Requires disclosure of grassroots lobbying activity: This legislation requires disclosure of paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying by professional lobbying firms. This disclosure requirement does not apply to organizations' communications with their members to stimulate lobbying of Congress.
- Slows the revolving door: H.R. 5677 would increase the cooling off period for former Members and certain staff from lobbying Congress from one to two years.
Attached to this letter we have also included a comparison of current law and the lobbying reform bills before Congress. This chart outlines the differences between S. 2349, passed in the Senate; H.R. 4975, passed in the House; H.R. 5677, the Shays-Meehan legislation; and S. Res. 525, introduced by Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Barack Obama (D-IL).
It is not too late for the House to pass meaningful and effective lobbying reform this Congress, but time is running out. Passing a bill that is essentially an exercise in political cover, such as the 'cosmetic' lobbying reform bill that the House passed earlier this year, does not serve well the institution or the American people. H.R. 5677 represents the lobbying and ethics reforms Congress should have passed in the first place.
Sincerely,
J. Gerald Hebert Meredith McGehee
Executive Director Policy Director
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July 10, 2006 -- Statement of Meredith McGehee on Obama-Feingold Resolution to Enact Changes to Senate Ethics Rules "The Campaign Legal Center applauds Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Barack Obama (D-IL) for their effort to push for immediate changes in ethics rules by passing a Senate-only resolution. S. Res. 525, 'The Senate Legislative Transparency and Accountability Resolution of 2006,' incorporates the seven changes to the Senate Rules included in the lobbying reform bill that passed the Senate on March 29. Both Senators voted against the lobby reform bill because they did not believe it was strong enough. In S. Res. 525, they have selected needed changes in Senate Rules that were included in the lobby reform bill while acknowledging that more should be done."
To read the full statement, click here.
June 28, 2006 -- Reform Groups Support New Strong Lobbying and Ethics Reform Package Reform Groups Urge House Members to Co-Sponsor
Strong Lobbying and Ethics Reform Package Introduced by
Representatives Shays and Meehan Last Week
In a letter sent today to all House members, reform groups urged Representatives to support and co-sponsor the new, strong lobbying and ethics reform package Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) introduced last week.
The reform groups include the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG.
The letter points out a new USA Today /Gallup poll that affirms that voters are deeply concerned about corruption in government.
The letter states, ''According to a USA Today /Gallup Poll conducted June 23-June 25, 2006, 85 percent of respondents said that corruption in government would be an extremely or very important issue to their vote for Congress this year. Corruption in government tied with the economy and ranked just below the situation in Iraq as the top rated issues in the poll.''
Enclosed below is the letter sent to all House members.
June 28, 2006
Dear Representative,
Last week, Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) introduced new, strong lobbying and ethics reform legislation, to address the corruption and lobbying scandals in Congress.
Our groups strongly urge you to support and co-sponsor this package, which represents real reform.
The reform groups include the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG.
The lobbying and ethics bills passed by the House and Senate this year, and awaiting a House-Senate conference, are cosmetic reforms that have been correctly labeled as phony reforms by editorial pages throughout the country.
Regardless of whether an illusory reform bill is enacted this year, Congress needs to enact real reforms to address the root causes of the worst congressional corruption scandals in decades.
These corruption problems--and their consequences for democracy--are not going away. Congress must respond decisively and effectively to the deep concerns of the American people about the undue influence of money and lobbyists in Congress.
According to a USA Today /Gallup Poll conducted June 23-June 25, 2006, 85 percent of respondents said that corruption in government would be an extremely or very important issue to their vote for Congress this year. Corruption in government tied with the economy and ranked just below the situation in Iraq as the top rated issues in the poll.
Addressing the corruption in government problems requires the establishment of public financing for congressional elections and the passage of strong lobbying and ethics reforms.
The new Shays-Meehan lobbying and ethics legislation, H.R. 5677, includes provisions to:
- Prohibit private interests that lobby Congress from paying for trips by Members;
- Require Members to pay charter rates, rather than reduced fares, for the use of company planes made available by corporations for their travel;
- Ban gifts to Members;
- Establish an Office of Public Integrity to help enforce congressional ethics rules and lobbying disclosure laws;
- Require lobbyists to disclose the campaign funds and financial benefits they provide to assist Members;
- Require disclosure of the amounts spent by professional lobbying firms and lobbying groups on campaigns to generate lobbying of Congress by the public; and
- Slow the revolving door.
An editorial in The Washington Post on June 25, 2006 described the new Shays-Meehan bill as ''the kind of bold, meaningful reform that congressional leaders promised--and promptly abandoned--at the start of 2006.''
We strongly urge you to sponsor the Shays-Meehan lobbying and ethics reform package and also to indicate publicly that you will oppose any efforts to enact illusory reforms.
Campaign Legal Center
Common Cause
Democracy 21
Leauge of Women Voters
Public Citizen
U.S. PIRG
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June 23, 2006 -- Statement of Trevor Potter on the Introduction of the Shays-Meehan Lobbying & Ethics Reform Legislation "We applaud the introduction of this substantive lobbying and ethics reform legislation, particularly in light of the sham reform bills passed by the House and the Senate. Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) are again leading the fight in the House of Representatives for real reform to a corrupt and dysfunctional system of influence peddling here in Washington."
To read the full statement, click here.
June 22, 2006 - Meredith McGehee in Roll Call: Watch Proposed Earmark Reforms Very Carefully "The infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" raised the profile of earmarks to the point that Congress felt compelled to at least give the appearance that it was going to do something about them. The $315 million span to connect an Alaskan town of fewer than 8,000 people to an island with only 50 residents drew national attention to the practice of earmarking that allows Members to funnel taxpayer dollars to personally selected pet projects."
To read the complete op-ed, click here.
June 22, 2006 -- Statement of Trevor Potter on the Release of Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Report Regarding the Jack Abramoff Lobbying Scandal "We believe that the report provides further proof why Congress should immediately enact serious, meaningful Congressional lobbying and ethics reform. The abuses outlined in the Senate Committee's report represent still more examples of a culture of corruption on Capitol Hill that has undermined the public's faith in its elected officials. It is little wonder that Congressional approval ratings are at historic lows. There is no question that our current system is broken and the toothless "reform bills" passed by the House and the Senate will do nothing to fix the system or slow the parade of scandals that have disillusioned the public."
To read the full statement, click here.
June 20, 2006 -- Meredith McGehee in The Hill: Disclosure Doesn't Stop Corruption "Sunlight may be the best disinfectant, but it won't cure what's afflicting Congress today."
To read the complete op-ed, click here.
June 12, 2006 -- Reform Groups Strongly Oppose Use of Pre-Approval Process by House Ethics Committee to Legitimize Privately-Funded Trips for Members In a letter sent today to members of the House Ethics Committee, five reform groups strongly opposed ''the use of a pre-approval system by the House Ethics Committee as a basis for allowing private interests to continue to finance trips taken by members of Congress.''
The reform groups include Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG.
A copy of the House Ethics Committee letter was sent to all House members.
To read the full letter, click here.
To read the press release, click here.
June 7, 2006 - Legal Center Urges Justice Department to Investigate of Chairman Oxley's Ties to Freddie Mac Scandal The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has asked the United States Department of Justice to investigate a series of potential violations of federal criminal law by Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH) relating to illegal fundraising activities by Freddie Mac. In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher of the Criminal Division, CLC urged the Justice Department to look into Rep. Oxley's involvement in the Freddie Mac scandal that resulted in the largest fine ever leveled by the Federal Election Commission.
To read the full letter, click here.
May 31, 2006 -- Statement of Reform Groups on House-Senate Conference on So-Called Lobbying and Ethics ''Reform'' Bill Last week the Senate appointed conferees to meet with the House to resolve the differences between the lobbying and ethics ''reform'' bills passed by the Senate and House.
With the Senate having passed unacceptable lobbying and ethics legislation, and the House having passed a completely fraudulent bill, our groups see no hope that this House-Senate conference can produce legislation that deserves to be supported by members of Congress.
The groups include the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG.
Regardless of whether a conference report passes, furthermore, the House and Senate must go back to square one and produce real, not cosmetic, reforms to address the worst congressional corruption scandals in decades.
The current effort in Congress isn't going to fool anyone. Editorials throughout the country already have denounced the House and Senate-passed bills as phony reform.
Members are sadly mistaken if they believe the public is going to fall for this legislative scam.
The fact that Senate leaders last week snubbed and left off the list of Senate conferees Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Joe Lieberman (D-CT) of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee only served to send one more message that this legislative exercise is a sham.
The Governmental Affairs Committee produced the Senate's lobbying disclosure provisions, the only good parts of the otherwise failed Senate bill. Senators Collins and Lieberman also led the important, although ultimately unsuccessful, fight in the Senate to establish an Office of Public Integrity for Congress.
The remainder of the Senate bill, dealing with the conduct of Members and produced by the Senate Rules Committee, and the entire House bill, virtually left intact the corrupting way of life on Capitol Hill and the financial perks from influence-seekers that are so cherished by Members.
Reform groups will continue to press for real lobbying and ethics reforms until Congress effectively addresses its extraordinary corruption and lobbying scandals.
Campaing Legal Center
Common Cause
Democracy 21
League of Women Voters
Public Citizen
U.S. PIRG
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May 22, 2006 -- Legal Center Calls for Removal of Chairman Oxley over Freddie Mac Scandal In a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), the Campaign Legal Center urged that Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH) be stripped of his Chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee. The call for his removal was a result of his directly benefiting from the illegal fundraising activities of Freddie Mac during a period that legislation to further regulate the Government-sponsored entity was stifled in his Committee.
To read the Legal Center's letter to Speaker Hastert, click here.
May 22, 2006 -- Meredith Mc Gehee in Roll Call: The House Ethics System needs a Serious Overhaul "With one Member of Congress already in jail, another under indictment in his home state and two more under investigation by the Justice Department for corruption, the House ethics committee last week decided to spring into action and begin investigations. Coming after a long stalemate, the panel's action is notable, but it should not be seen as a real answer to the problems facing the Congressional ethics enforcement process."
To read the complete op-ed, click here.
May 19, 2006 -- Lobby Reform Bills Side-by-Side: What's Really In Them? Over the past several months, the Legal Center along with the Congressional Ethics Coalition has carefully watched and participated in the progress of the ethics and lobbying reforms bills on the Hill. With the passage of both bills, the Legal Center has compiled a side-by-side comparison of the House (HR 4975) and Senate (S 2349) lobbying reform bills as compared to current law.
To view the side by side comparison, click here.
May 3, 2006 -- Statement of Campaign Legal Center Policy Director Meredith McGehee on House Passage of H.R. 4975, The Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act "Today's vote by the House to pass H.R. 4975, the Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006, is a grave disappointment. This bill in no way constitutes meaningful reform and should in fact be called the Sham Lobbying Reform Act of 2006. This measure was a cynical exercise aimed at providing House members political cover for the fall elections. Given the weak lobbying reform bill passed by the Senate, the chances of enacting meaningful lobbying reform in the 109th Congress are slim."
To read the full statement, click here.
April 26, 2006 -- Reform Groups Send a Letter to House Members Urging them to Oppose H.R. 4975 Unless Strengthening Amendements are Made In Order The Legal Center in coalition with other reform groups sent a letter to all House Members Wednesday, April 26, urging them to vote against the rule on H.R. 4975, unless important strengthening amendments to the bill are made in order for House floor votes. The letter also includes a list of amendments the Coalition feels are necessary to strengthen the lobbying reform bill.
To read the Legal Center's letter supporting the Shays-Meehan amendment package, click here. Click here to read the letter.
April 24, 2006 -- Reform Groups Send a Letter to House Members on Amendments to H.R. 4975 In a letter sent to the House Monday, April 24, the Legal Center and other reform groups urged Members to support amendments to H.R. 4975, the Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, that would strenghten reform provisions of the bill.
The letter states: "We strongly urge you to support the amendments to strengthen the bill set forth in our letter, in order to achieve strong, effective and comprehensive reforms. If these amendments are not allowed to come to a vote, or are not adopted on the House floor, we strongly urge you to vote against H.R. 4975 on final passage."
Click here to read the letter.
April 19, 2006 -- Reform Groups Send a Letter to the House in Support of a Bipartisan Bill Creating an Office of Public Integrity On April 19, 2006, the Legal Center and other reform groups sent a letter to the House asking Members for their support on H.R. 4799, bipartisan legislation that would create an Office of Public Integrity. According to the letter, the "failure of the House to have a functioning, operational Ethics Committee for most of this Congress is a national disgrace." Click here to read the letter.
April 13, 2006 -- Reform Groups Oppose House Lobbying Bill In a letter sent April 13, to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA), the Legal Center and other reform groups expressed strong opposition to H.R. 4975, the lobbying legislation proposed by the House Republican leadership, which is headed for the House floor when Congress returns from its Easter recess.
The reform groups said they would support efforts to defeat any rule to bring H.R. 4975 to the House floor, if the rule prohibits Members from voting on key amendments to strengthen the legislation. The groups also said in the letter that they would work to defeat H.R 4975 if it ''is not strengthened through successful floor amendments to effectively address the lobbying, ethics and corruption issues in Congress.'' To read the letter, click here.
April 4, 2006 -- Reform Groups Send Letter to House Urging Members to Support Meehan Amendments The Campaign Legal Center and other reform groups sent a letter to House members urging them to support Representative Marty Meehan's (D-MA) amendments to the lobbying reform bill pending before the House Judiciary Committee. The Meehan amendments would provide for: disclosure of ways that lobbyists provided financial help to Members; disclosure of professional grassroots lobbying campaigns; and strengthened revolving door provisions. Click here to read the letter.
Mar 28, 2006 -- Campaign Legal Center Urges Senators to Vote for the Office of Public Integrity In an email sent to all Senate offices Tuesday, the Campaign Legal Center urged Senators to vote for Senator Collins' (R-ME) amendment to create an Office of Public Integrity. The full email is posted below.
The Campaign Legal Center urges you to support the Collins-Lieberman-McCain-Obama amendment to create the Senate Office of Public Integrity
There are four reasons why the current Senate ethics process needs an overhaul and a Senate Office of Public Integrity should be created.
1. Lack of Transparency - The current process lacks both transparency and accountability. Senators should recognize that the public dialogue has changed from one where Senators, opposing changes, demand, "Show us where we have failed," to one where the public, cynical about the whole process, is responding, "Show us why we should have any faith in your action?"
2. Failure to Act or Respond - While Senate ethics rules allow outside groups or individuals to file complaints against Senators, the record shows that these complaints essentially go into a black hole. A number of groups who have filed complaints over the last several years have not received a response from the Committee on the complaints' merits. Certainly there is a need to filter out frivolous complaints, but this decision to ignore outside complaints gives the impression that elected officials are more interested in protecting their own rather than maintaining high ethics standards in Congress.
3. Too late, too lax - While the Senate Ethics Committee has taken action in a few cases, even in these cases the Ethics Committee took action too late and often imposed weak punishments. When allegations hang in the air for months on end without the Ethics Committee initiating a credible investigation, the integrity of the Senate is damaged. In the current mode of operation, with investigations only commencing when it appears the institution will look worse by not doing anything, the Senate is not maintaining the high ethical standards the American people should be able to expect.
4. Hiding behind the U.S. House of Representatives - In the past several months, the House Ethics Committee has taken the brunt of media criticism on these matters. While the House Ethics Committee is in a worse state than the Senate's, both Committees are badly in need of repair. The Senate Ethics Committee should not simply slip below the radar; both the House and Senate need to improve their accountability in effective ethics enforcement.
The Campaign Legal Center urges you to support the creation of a Senate Office of Public Integrity.
Mar 24, 2006 -- Reform Groups Urge Members to Oppose H.R. 4975 and Support Real Lobbying and Ethics Reform Reform Groups Urge Members to Oppose H.R. 4975
and Support Real Lobbying and Ethics Reform
In a letter sent today to all Representatives, reform groups urged House members to oppose H.R. 4975, the lobbying and ethics legislation recently proposed by the House Republican leadership, and to support alternative measures to provide real reforms in these areas.
To view the full letter click here.
Mar 2, 2006 -- Statement by Reform Groups Regarding Action of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Reform Committee on Ethics and Lobbying Reform "In rejecting the Collins-Lieberman proposal to create an Office of Public Integrity in Congress, a majority of the Senators on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Reform Committee voted today to ignore the deep concerns of the American people about the corruption and lobbying scandals in Congress."
To read the full statement, click here.
Feb 16, 2006 -- Statement of Meredith McGehee on Shays-Meehan Bill to Establish an Office of Public Integrity in Congress "The Campaign Legal Center commends Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Martin Meehan (D-MA) for introducing bipartisan legislation today to establish an Office of Public Integrity in Congress to enforce ethics rules and lobbying laws. The Office would be responsible for investigating possible ethics violations of members and presenting probable violations to the congressional ethics committees."
To read the full statement, click here.
Feb 9, 2006 -- Reform Groups Call on Congressional Ethics Committees to Investigate Abramoff Lobbying Scandals To read the full letter, click here.
Jan 25, 2006 -- Statement of Meredith McGehee Following Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs "Chairman Susan Collins and her colleagues on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs are to be commended for moving quickly to take testimony on lobbying reform. The effectiveness of any reforms will depend on a careful reading of the details, of course. But the public is rightly demanding action, and there are broad areas of bipartisan agreement. The time is right for change."
To read the full statement, click here.
Jan 23, 2006 -- Reform Groups Release Benchmarks for Lobbying Reform At a press conference on January 23, the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Campaign, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG released their Six Benchmarks for Lobbying Reform.
To read the benchmarks, click here.
To read Trevor Potter's statment urging Congress to use the Benchmarks as a blueprint for lobbying reform, click here.
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