Congress Is Poised To Pass Ethics Bill
By David Rogers
Wall Street Journal
August 2, 2007
WASHINGTON -- A landmark ethics and lobbying reform bill is poised to clear Congress this week after Republican critics conceded they lack the votes to block action in the Senate.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will support a Democratic motion Thursday to cut off debate, breaking with some of his own leadership team. Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, also said he would support cloture after earlier reports suggesting he would try to block action.
"I suspect it'll pass," said Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), one of the most vocal critics. "Folks want to support ethics reform even though it's much weaker than we wanted."
Months in the making, the measure has been a major priority for the Democratic leadership following the scandals that beset the last Congress under Republican rule. And the 107 page bill represents the most ambitious effort to tighten congressional ethics rules since at least the mid-90's and demands unprecedented disclosure of how lobbyists bundle campaign contributions to gain political leverage with lawmakers.
"It opens up a secret world," said Fred Wertheimer, a long time advocate of tougher rules. "This information has simply not been available."
Republicans offered little resistance in the House, which approved the measure 411-8 Tuesday. But critics like Mr. DeMint and Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) have persisted in the Senate, demanding a chance to further tighten rules governing the disclosure of spending "earmarks" added to annual appropriations bills.
The pivotal vote Thursday morning to cut off debate will require a two-thirds majority to prevail. Conservative taxpayer groups as well as Republican Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi have joined in the effort to block this motion. And Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) will return from his presidential campaign for a press conference Thursday morning with Sens. DeMint, Coburn and other opponents.
But Democrats remain united, and Mr. Lott conceded that it was unlikely that the bill can be defeated. "It would take courage," Mr. Lott said, "Because your headline would be 'Republicans Defeat Lobbying-Ethics Reform.' "
Mr. McConnell's stance, confirmed by an aide Wednesday, is important given the fact that not just Mr. Lott, his second in command, but other Republican leadership allies, such as Sen., Robert Bennett of Utah, oppose the bill. Up for re-election in Kentucky next year, Mr. McConnell is sensitive to the political punch behind the ethics package when many voters are unhappy with the conduct of Congress. And his decision should make it easier for wavering Republicans to back the bill.
For Mr. Stevens, a former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the timing of the debate could not be more awkward. The FBI raided the senator's home in Girdwood, Alaska, Monday in connection with a grand jury investigation related to his dealings with an oil company executive convicted of bribing Alaska state legislators. And his record of attaching earmarks to spending bills has made him a target for taxpayer groups, who want him to now give up his powerful committee positions.
In a brief interview, Mr. Stevens said "I'm not against the bill. I'll vote for cloture." But he remains upset with strict rules for charter air travel which Mr. Stevens said represent an unfair burden on states like Alaska with little or no commercial flights to many outlying areas.
Mr. Stevens said some exception should be allowed for in state flights, to locales which have no more than one flight a day, so that a member of Congress can "travel with other people when they are going anyway and not have to pay the full (charter) amount."
"I didn't say I would stop the bill," Mr. Stevens said, and he would accept an understanding that his amendment could be in order on a later bill. "I'm the senior Republican and they won't give a chance to offer the damn amendment," he said. "Being around here 39 years ought to have some purpose; at least the same purpose of anyone else to offer an amendment."
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
$9,769,530,645,350.00
|
$31,868.15 Per Citizen |
|
