Lieberman Out to Overhaul Lobbying in Washington
By Sara Hatch
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 – The one word on everyone’s lips in Washington these days is lobbying. Journalists are writing about it. Members of Congress are worried about it. And Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) is trying to reform it.
Lieberman is a co-sponsor of a lobbying overhaul bill introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in response to the indictments of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and one of his associates. Sen. McCain testified before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, of which Lieberman is the senior Democrat, in a hearing Wednesday on lobbying reform.
In an interview after the hearing, Lieberman said Abramoff’s behavior amounted to “an outrageous corruption of what’s supposed to be a constitutional right that people have to be represented before the government, but it was all about money.
“It was not only spreading money around to members of Congress in a way that was obsessive or raises suspicions about whether you can buy legislation here, but he really extorted and conned a lot of his clients, including particularly the Native American tribes, out of unbelievable amounts of money which they didn’t need to pay.”
Lieberman received $1,000 in a campaign contribution in the 2001-02 election cycle from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, one of Abramoff’s clients, but no money from Abramoff himself, according to capitaleye.org, a money-in-politics newsletter published by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
In his remarks before the committee, Lieberman stressed that this is the time for action and that the practices that have gone on in the past cannot continue.
“The consequences of Abramoff’s crimes are so antithetical to our way of governance and so embarrassing to Congress that Democrats and Republicans, House members and Senators, agree Congress must act. And we will,” Lieberman said. “In government, we must hold ourselves, and be held to, a higher standard – to do not just what is legal, but what is right.”
Lieberman added that this is more than just about money; it is also about restoring trust.
“The behavior of Mr. Abramoff and his associates undercuts that trust and sends the message that in Washington, results go to the highest bidder, not to the greatest public good,” he said.
Lieberman and McCain said their bill is aimed at requiring fuller disclosure of gifts and other benefits lobbyists provide to members of Congress but would avoid what they characterized as more radical proposals for a total ban on congressional involvement with lobbyists.
Their bill also would double the cooling-off period to two years for members of Congress, senior congressional staff and some executive branch officials who wish to lobby Congress after leaving government service.
All of the senators on the committee called for a bipartisan commitment to lobby reform.
“We know the response must be bipartisan,” Lieberman said.
He added, “We cannot and will not let partisanship or institutional defensiveness stop us from achieving that goal.”
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