Jan 25, 2006 -- Statement of Meredith McGehee Following January 25, 2006 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.

It is also important to note that, contrary to some of the discussion at the hearing today, the current lobbying controversies aren't fundamentally about whether members of Congress can be bought for the price of a dinner or a $20 t-shirt. The much larger issue is about undue access and influence - the many ways in which lobbyists and their clients use gifts, travel and other favors to cultivate access, without public disclosure, and without proper accountability. When special interests are able to use attractive perquisites to gain easier access to legislators than is available to ordinary citizens, the public policy process suffers. We have seen that dynamic demonstrated time after time in the form of legislative giveaways and protection for special interests at the expense of sound policy.

Some on the Committee also suggested that Congress appoint a commission to study these problems. I must respectfully disagree. The problems that led to the current scandals are relatively straightforward. We clearly understand what they are, and there are serious proposals that would deal with them. It's now time for members of both parties to show the public they can do the right thing. A Commission to study problems would merely delay the needed reforms.

It's also true, as some suggested today, that Congress must ultimately address the troubling practice of legislative "earmarking" and deal with other campaign finance problems, including soft money spending by 527 groups. But there is no need to put lobbying reform on hold until those complex issues can be addressed. Nor should either of these issues be used as a poison pill to waylay lobby reform.

Both parties are better served by effective lobbying reform. A bipartisan solution is critical because the root of this access- and influence-buying problem is not about political party but about power and how and for whom it is used. Congress should take advantage of this moment, when the public's attention is sharply focused, to quickly address the lobbying scandal.

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To view a side by side comparison of the current lobbying reform bills and proposals, click here.