YARDSTICK FOR REFORM—Congress could tackle reform in the early months of the 110th session. We’re working to make sure it’s strong legislation.

“[T]he Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history.”

—Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), on Election Night

Let’s hope so.
On Election Day, voters had clearly seen enough of government scandals in the past year.
Scandals, for instance, involving:

• Lobbyist Jack Abramoff—sentenced to nearly six years in jail for his role in influence-peddling on Capitol Hill;

• Rep. Bob Ney (Ohio), who pleaded guilty to corruption charges. Ney had joined Abramoff on his notorious Scotland golf outing and accepted money in return for helping Abramoff’s clients;

• Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (Calif.), serving an eight-year term for accepting more than $2.4 million in bribes; and

• Rep. William Jefferson (La.), who is being investigated for bribery. Agents found $90,000 divided among various food containers in his freezer.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. More indictments could be handed down as the officials and lobbyists facing jail time begin to share information with federal investigators.

This corruption not only destroys public confidence in government, however. It costs taxpayer dollars that could be going to beneficial services. Instead, lobbyists are using gifts and junkets to divert funds toward pet projects and other misuses. The voters had a clear response to the scandals this past November:

Enough!

As bills that could rewrite the rules on lobbying and ethical standards in Congress make their way through the House and Senate, we must make sure that Congress is really addressing these scandals.

We’ve proposed a set of changes that we believe could truly produce long-lasting reform.

A Yardstick For Reform

We believe ethics and lobbying reform that achieves three main objectives will crack down on and prevent more corruption:

• Enforce the rules: Jack Abramoff’s undoing was initiated by a whistle blower—not by the House or Senate Ethics Committees. Congress needs an independent, professionally-staffed ethics commission.

The commission should be selected by a bipartisan task force. The group should have audit and investigative powers.

• Limit gifts, travel and meals from special interests: Gifts of travel and meals buy special access and lead to cozy relationships between decision-makers and special interests. That’s access that the average American just can’t afford.

• Protect voters’ right-to-know: Require Congress to open the books so that voters can follow the money.

A new system should require full disclosure of all campaign contributions through a searchable, online database that labels all contributions from registered lobbyists.

Change On The Horizon?

When voters send a message to our elected officials, change is possible. Last year, North Carolina passed a reform bill that established an independent commission to investigate misconduct—and it was because of the public backlash from a lottery scandal that the change was made.

We have some key support for our plan from House and Senate leadership. We also have the support of Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), the new House Majority Leader.

At press time, with the session not yet begun, things are looking good for our democracy work.

As the debate continues, we’ll continue to push for real reform that will solve the problem.