[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 25 (Thursday, March 2, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  H.R. 4682, THE HONEST LEADERSHIP AND OPEN GOVERNMENT ACT: DEMOCRATS 
                   LEAD THE NATION ON LOBBYING REFORM

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 2, 2006

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, our country was established as a 
government `of the people, by the people, and for the people.' The 
Republican majority has turned it into a government of, by, and for a 
few of the people. We need to address the Republican culture of 
corruption and lead the charge to restore honor and dignity to the 
House of Representatives. America can do better. The American public 
deserves better.
  Mr. Abramoff and his associates have clearly broken the law. It takes 
two to tango. I believe Republican Members of Congress who put America 
up for sale should also be held accountable for their corrupt dealings 
and ``pay for play'' politics that put special interests first at the 
expense of the priorities of the American people.
  Americans pay when lobbyists are granted special access in the 
legislative process and democratic procedures are abandoned on the 
floor of the House. Americans pay for the cost of corruption in many 
ways: a prescription drug bill that puts the greed of pharmaceutical 
companies ahead of the need of senior citizens for affordable 
prescription drugs; energy legislation that gives tax breaks and 
subsidies to oil companies while Americans pay record prices at the 
pump and for home-heating; and a waiver of liability so that vaccine 
manufacturers can profit while Americans can be hurt.
  To end this culture of corruption and restore integrity and openness 
to the House, Democratic Leader Pelosi and my Democratic colleagues 
have introduced the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act that will 
eliminate the K Street Project that trades legislative access for 
Republican-only employment, stop the revolving door between government 
and lobbyists, end the ``dead of night'' special interest provisions, 
prohibit cronyism in key appointments, and eliminate contracting abuses 
like those benefiting Halliburton. I support this bill, and I urge my 
colleagues to enact and vigorously enforce needed reforms.
  I am, however, concerned with the proposal to ban all privately-
funded congressional travel without making a distinction between social 
or recreational trips and educational travel. Travel that includes 
lobbyists funding lawmakers to go to luxurious resorts for golf trips 
is abuse of House rules, and I believe we need to put an end to it.
  But fact-finding trips on the other hand are an important way to 
educate members of Congress about issues. Banning them would make it 
harder for Members to get real-world understanding of matters that 
arise on Capitol Hill. I want to make sure that nonprofit 
organizations, whether they undertake no lobbying or devote a very 
small percentage of their budgets to lobbying, are not precluded from 
taking members on these trips because of this bill. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues on this issue.
  The intention of our Founding Fathers was for Congress to be a 
marketplace of ideas. Democrats are leading the effort to once again 
put power where it belongs--in the hands of the American people. I look 
forward to enacting real reform that addresses serious ethical abuses, 
increases the transparency and openness of government, and enforces the 
rules and laws already on the books.

                          ____________________