Friday, June 08, 2007 Contact: Sean Oblack (202) 225-4176 Schiff Introduces Bipartisan Measure to Prevent the Spouses of Elected Officials and Candidates from Collecting Campaign Checks Washington, DC – Today, in an effort to continue to raise the bar on ethical standards in Congress, Representative Adam Schiff introduced a bipartisan measure to end the potentially corrupt practice of allowing federal office holders and candidates to employ their spouses in their campaign.  The Campaign Expenditure Transparency Act, cosponsored by Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE), would amend campaign finance laws to prohibit a practice whereby spouses of federal candidates are employed by the candidate’s campaign and would also require the disclosure of all other immediate family members who are employed by the candidate’s campaign. “The practice of paying family members for work done on campaigns can breed corruption and invites abuse,” Schiff said.  “Candidates run for federal office to serve the public, not to financially profit from the campaign.”   “I welcome Congressman Schiff’s legislation to increase transparency in campaigns,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.  “House Democrats are following through on our pledge to change the way Washington does business – including increasing transparency in election campaigns to prevent the misuse of funds.” “House Democrats pledged last fall to clean up the culture of corruption,” said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.  “Part of that is ensuring that no Member personally benefits from their official or campaign activities.  The ‘Campaign Expenditure Transparency Act’ is a critical part of a larger solution to restore the public's confidence that their elected representatives are working in the people's interests and not their own.” The practice of paying family members, particularly spouses, has the potential to raise many conflicts of interests, given that the candidate stands to potentially benefit financially from any salary paid to a spouse.  This bill halts that practice, and it further ensures that the public is informed of any payment made to an immediate family member from the campaign.  A particularly egregious practice involves the spouse of an elected official earning commissions for fundraising activity.  In those situations, the candidate or elected official personally pockets a percentage of all campaign funds raised by their spouse. Congressman Schiff has a long record of fighting for campaign finance reform.  On his first day in Congress, he cosponsored the McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform legislation and helped organize freshman members to support its passage. Original cosponsors include: Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Majority Whip James Clyburn, Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel, Democratic Vice Chair John Larson, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Chris Van Hollen, and Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter.  Co-sponsor Mike Castle of Delaware is also joined by Republican Rep. Todd Platts of Pennsylvania. Rep. Schiff was recently appointed to serve on the House Appropriations Committee in the 110th Congress and is a member of its Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee, the State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, and the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel.  He also serves on the House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. He represents California’s 29th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Alhambra, Altadena, Burbank, East Pasadena, East San Gabriel, Glendale, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Temple City. -30-