[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21751-21752]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ACCOUNTABILITY IN CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentlewoman from Kansas (Mrs. Boyda) is recognized 
during morning-hour debate for 3 minutes.
  Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of 
accountability in Congress. This year, taxpayers will pay the 
retirement benefits for Dan Rostenkowski, Duke

[[Page 21752]]

Cunningham and Bob Ney. What do these men have in common? All are 
retired Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. All are convicted 
criminals. Each abused his office by committing fraud, bribery or 
conspiracy, and each was found guilty in Federal court.
  Despite their convictions, these three representatives and over a 
dozen other former lawmakers remain eligible to draw taxpayer-funded 
pensions for their service. The exact amount of the payments vary, of 
course, but the average is about $47,000 per year. That's more than the 
average American makes. Let me tell you, it's certainly more than the 
average Kansan makes. Certainly a lot more than the average person in 
the Second District of Kansas makes.
  Mr. Speaker, when the new majority was sworn into the House of 
Representatives, we had a clear mandate from Americans--End the 
scandals. Clean up Congress. We've already taken meaningful first steps 
toward reform. In our first days, we passed an ethics package that 
banned Members from accepting gifts from lobbyists. We blocked 
representatives from flying on corporate jets. And we prevented 
Congressmen from pressuring businesspeople to fire or hire for 
political reasons.
  That last one to me is especially important. Before this Congress, 
our Congressmen were out there actually influencing people and saying, 
if you don't agree with my politics, we're asking you to hire or fire 
businesspeople. It was so wrong.
  But our work is not done and it never will be done as long as 
convicted criminals can draw a congressional pension. Congress can and 
should revoke the pensions of convicted lawmakers. But for decades now, 
even as payments have totaled millions of dollars, this body has 
quietly ignored the problem. But no longer. Today, the bill we will 
consider this afternoon incorporates legislation that I authored to 
strip the pensions of these crooked lawmakers. The final bill also sets 
limits on the so-called revolving door of lawmakers who are turning 
into lobbyists, and it imposes financial disclosure requirements on the 
lobbying industry. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and we need a 
whole lot more transparency still.
  Taken together, these changes represent the most significant ethics 
overhaul to pass the Congress in decades. I urge my colleagues to 
support this legislation. By enacting these sweeping reforms, Congress 
can begin to recover from the long years of scandal and corruption. 
Congress can begin to earn back Americans' trust.

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