ACCOUNTABILITY

The First Amendment guarantees every citizen a right to petition the government. For more than two centuries that process has worked, with proper restrictions and regulations to stop unethical people from breaking the law and abusing the trust of Americans.

Members of Congress and their staff should always abide by the rules in place pertaining to gift and lobbying laws. Taking advantage of the power of elected office by accepting trips, gifts, and other incentives not covered by the ethics rules of the House of Representatives is wrong and damages the trust Americans have in their elected officials. And if a Member of Congress breaks the law, then law enforcement authorities should be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it may lead and the Member should be held accountable for his crimes.

I have been very disheartened by the behavior of a small minority of my colleagues this past session of Congress. Members of Congress should set the highest ethical standard because we are doing the people’s work. Members of Congress are not above the law.

But these actions of a few have placed us on the verge of momentous change. The recent scandals are bringing much needed reform to Congress and to the way business is done in Washington.

Clearly there is a need to reform our lobbying laws and to that end, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4975, Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. This legislation prohibits travel by Members of Congress paid for by private organizations, without prior approval by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The bill also requires quarterly instead of semiannual filing of lobbying disclosure reports along with maintenance of certain lobbying disclosure information in an electronic database, available to the public free of charge over the Internet. Additionally this measure extends the time that a Member of Congress and senior staff members are prohibited from lobbying Congress to two years after leaving an official office. And Members would not receive their congressional pensions if the Member is found guilty of a crime that is related to their position as a Member of Congress.

I support changes to the rules that will ensure that Members of Congress and staff uphold the highest ethical standards possible. Since I came to Congress, I have fought for reforms to guarantee that Members who abuse their office and who are found guilty of doing so no longer receive their congressional pensions. I am glad this issue has been brought to the fore.

There are also many other commonsense procedures that this Congress can and should institute to remove loopholes and tighten the rules. These include 527 reform, regulation reform, and changing the way that pork projects are included in legislation. In September, the House of Representatives passed S.2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which is now law. This bill authorized the creation of a Google-like database of federal contracts and grants that would allow users to type in key words that would bring up how much money any recipient had received. Also, in September, the House passed H.Res.1003 which requires the names of earmark sponsors to be put next to their project requests. I voted for this commonsense measure as a way to provide more transparency in the earmarking process.

But it is important for Congress to not tie its hands when dealing with the executive branch and the allocation of federal dollars. Congress should not consign itself to the role of authorizer of federal dollars and leave the allocation of those funds and the promulgation of regulations to unaccountable bureaucrats and executive branch officials. It makes no sense to me and is an abdication of our Constitutional duty to control the purse. Earmark reform should be accompanied by corresponding reform in the way our bureaucracies create and promulgate regulations.

However, Congress must not rush to judgment and throw the good out with the bad. We must not implement draconian restrictions to keep members of non-profits from visiting our offices. Congress must not force Members to tell their local award winning Boy Scout troop that it is against the law to receive a cap from them. We need to take our time and judiciously examine proper reforms. This process can work when done correctly.

The reforms that today’s Republican led House will implement are the next logical step in guaranteeing that the people’s House is truly an institution above reproach. Congress must return to being a place where Americans can come to petition their representatives for the good of their congressional districts, their states, and the nation.