Jul 20, 2006 -- ARMPAC Closure and Fines Statement of Meredith McGehee, Policy Director of the Campaign Legal Center

Tom DeLay remains the poster child for what's wrong with Washington.

These latest transgressions by the former Majority Leader are part of a long-term pattern of ethical lapses. He remains under indictment in Texas, and he may well face further prosecution related to the Jack Abramoff scandal. The news that Tom DeLay's ARMPAC was violating election laws should come as no great surprise to anyone. This news is yet another example that reveals the dangerous and growing role of leadership PACs as slush funds for Members and as additional conduits to obscure from public view the "pay-to-play" atmosphere that prevails on Capitol Hill.

Mr. DeLay's retirement doesn't change the need for serious reforms on Capitol Hill, including new laws dealing with leadership PACs. The first step would be for Congress to start over, and pass serious and substantive lobbying and ethics reforms, not the political cover passed by both Houses earlier this year.

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