House passes ethics overhaul, putting pressure on Senate
Hours after the Democrats took control, the House passed what the Washington Post described as the broadest ethics and lobbying revision since the Watergate era. Only Republican Dan Burton of Indiana voted against the measure.
The new House rules bar members from taking gifts, meals or trips paid for by lobbyists, or the organizations that employ them. The rules also ban lawmakers from using corporate jets and reimbursing the owners. A further proposal would also eliminate major loopholes from earlier drafts, in requirements for lawmakers to disclose sponsorship of pet spending projects, or earmarks, and tax breaks they hide in complex legislation.
The House Democrats said that in March they would take up the creation of an independent ethics watchdog to police their own conduct, something lawmakers in both chambers had steadfastly resisted.
In contrast, the initial Senate ethics bill would ban only gifts or meals and not trips paid for by lobbyists or their employers. It would not restrict the use of corporate jets. It would require disclosure of the sponsors of only a small fraction of spending earmarks, excluding those added to supplementary material, called Congressional reports, that explain legislative intent or that are directed through federal agencies like the Defense Department. Nor does the Senate bill propose any independent enforcement.
Some senior Democratic aides said the House rules had upped the ante for the Senate.
“They will be embarrassed” if they do not do more, said James A. Thurber, a professor of government at American University in Washington and an expert on Congressional ethics rules who has acted as a consultant to several lawmakers. “When we look at the election, it is a hot issue, so there will be a lot of focus on it in people’s minds, and the heat will be on in the Senate.”
Announcing his intention to reintroduce the Senate bill that passed last year, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, promissed to “improve that legislation and make additional reforms.”
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