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.

Campaign Legal Center
Common Cause
Democracy 21
League of Women Voters
Public Citizen
U.S. PIRG