First act for Dems is ethics cleanup
By Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Democrats take control of the House Thursday for the first time in a dozen years and plan as their first act to tackle a problem that helped them oust the Republicans in November: potential corruption involving lobbyists.
The changes range from a total ban on gifts and meals from lobbyists to greater restrictions on lawmakers' travel.
But efforts to cut down on the special projects that lawmakers add, often secretly, to spending bills, face a tougher battle. President Bush on Wednesday called for Congress to reduce the number and cost of those projects, known as earmarks, by half in the next year.
"Earmarks often divert precious funds from vital priorities like national defense," Bush said.
The ethics changes proposed by House Democrats would not limit earmarks. Instead, they would require lawmakers to disclose the special projects and declare in writing whether they or their spouses have financial stakes in the projects. Tax breaks that benefit 10 or fewer people also would be disclosed.
Incoming Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., predicted there would be fewer earmarks in the Democratic Congress because of new rules. But he said Congress should retain the power to funnel money to specific projects. "Every president would like to say to Congress, 'Only the president can add (projects),' " Hoyer said. "That would substantially skew the relationship and undermine the independence of the U.S. Congress."
Spending watchdog David Williams of Citizens Against Government Waste said the new transparency is a good step. But "Democrats are still politicians and … the main way to get elected is to get pork," he said. For his part, Bush had "ample opportunity" to offer ways to clamp down on earmarks during his presidency but failed to do so, Williams said.
The number of earmarks and their price tag has grown dramatically in recent years. Williams' group reports that the pork-barrel spending has nearly tripled in the last decade to $29 billion in 2006.
Incoming Democratic leaders said the rules changes are designed to clean up a Congress buffeted by corruption charges that have led to investigations of several lawmakers and jail terms for former Republican congressman Duke Cunningham of California and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
"We're bringing back a Congress we can be proud of," said Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., who will lead the panel that oversees rules for House members.
Other House Democratic changes would:
• Ban gifts and meals from lobbyists. Current rules set a $100 limit on gifts and meals from the same person in one year.
• Trips organized and paid for by lobbyists also would be limited. Lawmakers still could travel at expense of colleges and foundations that want to influence public policy, but the travel would have to be approved beforehand by the House ethics panel.
• Bar congressional travel on corporate jets.
Democratic leaders have decided to delay until March a decision on whether to create an outside body to investigate and help enforce ethics violations.
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