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Jun 22, 2007 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: June 22, 2007
In a letter this week to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, reform groups urged the Congressional leaders to "ensure that the final conference report on lobbying reform legislation includes strong and effective provisions to provide for the disclosure by lobbyists of the fundraising events they hold and the contributions they 'bundle' for Members."
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, "Requiring lobbyists to disclose the fundraisers they hold and the contributions they 'bundle' for a Member goes to the heart of the public's right to know about the efforts lobbyists make to advance their lobbying goals. Requiring effective disclosure of this information is an essential element of any new lobbying disclosure reform legislation."
This week, the Campaign Legal Center sent a side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate lobbying and ethics bills to each Member of Congress. The document compares current law with S. 1, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, and H.R. 2316, the Honest Government and Open Leadership Act. The chart was sent along with a letter to the full House and Senate urging a conference report at least as strong as the bills already passed by both bodies. The chart covers provisions in the legislation relating to lobbying reform, travel and gifts rules, the revolving door, disclosure and earmarks.
Reform groups sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties this week urging them to hold hearings on congressional redistricting reform. The letter referenced two pending bills: H.R. 543, the Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act, introduced by Representatives John Tanner (D-TN) and Zack Wamp (R-TN); and H.R. 2248, the Redistricting Reform Act of 2007, introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren.
According to the letter, "House action is needed to ensure that competitiveness, accountability and fair representation remain healthy parts of our democratic process, and to keep the overly partisan and unchecked redistricting process from spinning out of control. Our nation will be irretrievably weakened if we continue with a system that undermines our representative democracy by allowing elected officials to choose their constituents, rather than a system where voters choose their elected officials."
The reform groups include the Campaign Legal Center, Committee for Economic Development, Common Cause, Council for Excellence in Government, Fair Vote, Reform Institute and U.S. PIRG.
On June 19, the Legal Center posted on its website a letter sent by seven former career professionals at the Department of Justice to the Senate Rules Committee, responding to the sworn testimony of Hans von Spakovsky before that Committee on June 13. The letter details concerns over key points of von Spakovsky's testimony including his role in the Civil Rights Division and the "implementation of practices which injected partisan political factors into decision-making on enforcement matters and into the hiring process." The same Justice Department career professionals had previously sent a letter to the Senate Rules Committee expressing their concerns prior to the FEC confirmation hearings.
Legal Center Blog Highlights
Each week, the Campaign Legal Center staff posts blog entries on its site, www.clcblog.org . Click to read this week's entries: " Inside the Vote Cage: Griffin, Goodling and McNulty (No, Not Another Lawfirm) ," " Hans von Spakovsky's Defense: I don't recall; I was only the messenger; and I can't talk about it because it's privileged ," and " Career DOJ Attorneys Beg to Differ with von Spakovsky Testimony ," or to sign up for the blog, click here .
To read a variety of this week's editorials and articles on a variety of Campaign Legal Center issues, please click here . |
