House Republicans move to restrict lobbyists´ favors -
Wednesday, January 18, 2006 12:08:37 AM
afxpress.com
House Republicans move to restrict lobbyists' favors - UPDATE 2 WASHINGTON (AFX) -- In the wake of a fresh corruption scandal, House Republicans moved Tuesday to outline legislation that would restrict what lobbyists can do for lawmakers, and includes a ban on privately funded travel
The proposal, offered by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., would ban most gifts and would require lobbyists to provide more frequent disclosure of their lobbying activities
The lawmakers said that they hope to have a comprehensive lobbying reform package on the floor by early March. Meanwhile, Dreier said that his committee would move legislation to the floor on Feb. 1 -- the day the House returns for the second session of the 109th Congress -- that would ban lobbyists who are former House members from the House floor and the House gymnasium
Former House members have used their access to those venues, which are off-limits to other lobbyists, to buttonhole current members on pending legislation
Lobbyists are already banned from paying for trips by lawmakers. But think tanks, foundations and some interest groups can fund junkets under current law
Current law bars members of Congress from accepting gifts worth more than $50, with a limit of $100 from any single individual in a year. Hastert said his proposal would tighten the restriction further, but would leave room for lawmakers to accept small items from constituents
"A member of Congress should be able to accept a baseball cap or a T-shirt from the proud students of a local middle school. But he or she doesn't need to be taken to lunch or dinner by a Washington lobbyist," Hastert said
The crackdown comes as an investigation escalates regarding disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was indicted earlier this month on federal corruption charges
The scandal already has forced Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, to step aside temporarily as chairman of the House Administration Committee. Abramoff's plea agreement refers to a congressman, identified in news reports as Ney, who accepted lavish trips, meals and other items in return for official acts. Ney has denied any wrongdoing
Ties to Abramoff have prompted several lawmakers, as well as President Bush, to give away campaign donations he supplied. They also forced former House majority leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, to give up on plans to return to GOP leadership -- prompting a three-way race for the caucus' No. 2 position, to be decided Feb. 2
In an unrelated case last year, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., pleaded guilty to bribery charges and resigned. Hastert acknowledged that many of the proposed reforms are borrowed from Senate legislation introduced last month by John McCain, R-Ariz
In a news conference later Tuesday afternoon, McCain said he would work with Democratic senators, including Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, who was his partner on campaign-finance legislation, as well as with Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who has signed on as a co-sponsor to the lobbying legislation
McCain said that he was confident any differences between House and Senate lobbying legislation would be ironed out
McCain and Hastert have both expressed a desire to rein in budget "earmarks" -- the special, local projects often derided as "pork-barrel spending" that are often inserted into spending legislation
"My policy preference would be to ban all earmarks," McCain said. "And we're working on various proposals to try to, if not totally ban them, make sure that they ... are fully justified and debated and ventilated, that the activities are conducted in the light of day rather than in the middle of the night, and the next day a bill appears on everybody's desk and we vote up or down without having seen it." Bipartisan problem Democrats, for their part, also haven't been untouched by scandal allegations. A former aide to Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., pleaded guilty this month to charges he solicited bribes for the congressman and has agreed to cooperate in an ongoing investigation. Jefferson has denied doing anything wrong
Meanwhile, new surveys underscore the American public's dim view of Congress. A CBS News poll conducted after Abramoff's plea agreement found only 27% of Americans approved of the job Congress is doing, while 57% disapproved
While news stories about corruption in Washington have been focused on violations of existing rules, tougher restrictions are needed to help "regain the trust" of the American people, according to Hastert
"We need to reform the rules so it's clear beyond a shadow of the doubt what is ethically acceptable for members of Congress, of the House of Representatives and their staff," he said
Democrats, who will unveil their own lobbying-reform plan on Wednesday, said that Hastert's proposals don't go far enough. Democrats want to take aim at the Republicans "K Street Project," a strategy championed by DeLay and other GOP leaders designed to encourage corporations, trade groups and lobbying firms to hire Republicans
"The Republican proposal fails to address?the serious ethical abuses resulting from violations of existing rules and laws designed to curb corruption," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a statement. "It does nothing to restore an?open, democratic process to the floor of Congress, and it leaves totally intact the Republican K Street Project that trades lobbyist jobs for special legislative favors." |
