Sep 14, 2007 -- Statement by Reform Groups on Lobbying and Ethics Reform Legislation Passed by Congress

The following statement on the lobbying and ethics reform legislation passed by Congress was issued today by the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG:

The landmark lobbying and ethics reform legislation passed by Congress constitutes a major accomplishment by this Congress.

The far reaching reforms passed by Congress are the most important lobbying and ethics reforms since the Watergate era. They will help to change the way business is done in Washington and help to protect the interests of the American people.

Our organizations strongly commend the House and Senate for responding to deep citizen concerns about corruption and lobbying scandals revealed in the last Congress by passing landmark government integrity reforms.

Our organizations also strongly commend House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senator Russell Feingold and Senator Barack Obama and Representative Chris Van Hollen and Representative Rahm Emanuel for the outstanding national leadership they provided for this successful reform effort.

The overwhelming bipartisan vote in Congress for the reform legislation shows once again the powerful voice of citizens and the power of recorded votes when it comes to government integrity issues, with House members voting 411 to 8 and Senators voting 83 to 14 for the reform legislation.

We thank all of the Democrats and Republicans who voted for the legislation.

The immediate challenge that lies ahead now is to ensure that the new lobbying disclosure law and congressional ethics rules are effectively implemented and enforced.

Our organizations will work to achieve this goal and also are working to strengthen the systems for enforcing the congressional ethics rules, lobbying laws and campaign finance laws.

In the longer term, our organizations are working for essential campaign finance reforms that include repairing the presidential public financing system and establishing a public financing system for congressional races.

For now, however, our organizations believe it is important to recognize that this Congress has provided major lobbying and ethics reforms in response to the major corruption, lobbying and ethics scandals that were revealed in the last Congress.