[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 56 (Wednesday, May 10, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E775-E776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




H.R. 4975, THE SO-CALLED ``LOBBYING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT 
                               OF 2006''

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 10, 2006

  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, May 3, 2006, I voted 
against final passage of H.R. 4975, making changes to congressional 
ethics procedures and campaign finance laws.
  As a member of Congress first elected to the House of Representatives 
in 1998, I have supported and continue to support efforts to reduce the 
influence of money in politics because I believe that public cynicism 
is eating away at voter participation, causing citizens to tune out 
discussions of very serious issues, and turning a whole generation of 
young people away from our political system as a means of social 
change. There is a national crisis of confidence in our political 
system because of the influence of money in the legislative process. 
The American people share a widely held belief that special interests, 
lobbyists, and the very wealthiest campaign contributors wield too much 
influence in government.
  Unfortunately, these concerns have been warranted, as recent scandals 
have come to light involving, among others, the transgressions of 
former Rep. Randy ``Duke'' Cunningham and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. For 
this reason, I joined as an original cosponsor of H.R. 4682, the Honest 
Government and Open Leadership Act. This legislation, among other 
things, takes steps to ban all gifts, including meals, tickets, 
entertainment and travel, from lobbyists and non-governmental 
organizations that retain or employ lobbyists; requires Members to pay 
full charter costs when using corporate jets for official travel; and 
establishes a new Office of Public Integrity under the Inspector 
General of the House.
  H.R. 4975 falls short in all of these areas and instead chooses to 
maintain the status quo. Furthermore, the final rule reported out of 
the Rules Committee did not allow for the consideration of amendments 
on the House floor that would have addressed these concerns. Instead, 
the Rule included H.R. 513, controversial campaign finance legislation 
that would limit the ability of the public to mobilize voters and to 
hold incumbents accountable for the very misconduct that this bill 
purports to change. This kind of closed door process is indicative of 
the problems we are now experiencing in Congress.

[[Page E776]]

  Public office is a public trust. All elected officials and their 
staffs must conduct the public's business in public view and in a 
manner that is above reproach. Congress must take real steps to improve 
congressional ethics standards and to make congressional procedures 
more open and accountable to all Americans.

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