READER'S WRITE

ETHICAL BEHAVIOR SHOULD BE CODE OF HONOR FOR PUBLIC SERVANTS

Rarely in recent memory have the American people trusted their government less. A recent CBS News/New York Times poll found that 70% of Americans believe that special interests bribing members of Congress is the normal order of business in Washington.  It seems that every day another case of influence peddling or outright bribery surfaces in our nation’s capital.

“Super lobbyist” Jack Abramoff showered his ill-gotten gains around Congress in the form of golf junkets, tickets to luxury boxes at sporting events, and free meals at his DC restaurant. Former California Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham demanded and received millions in bribes from defense contractors, in exchange for lucrative military contracts. Both are now headed to federal prison.

That these obvious outrages have been thoroughly prosecuted is reassuring, but we should not be complacent. Most Members of Congress, Congressional staff and lobbyists are honorable people who scrupulously obey the rules. But too often some skirt the rules, trading on their positions and contacts to enjoy a lifestyle well beyond their means as public servants. Put simply, Washington is broken—even if some who have been there too long have not noticed.

The plans working their way through the House and Senate are a good first step, but they are not nearly enough. True ethics reform must include all of the following elements:

• Greater transparency and comprehensive disclosure. Lobbyists should be required to disclose their clients and incomes on a quarterly basis, rather than twice a year, and report all contributions made to campaigns and Political Action Committees. Lobbyists should also be required to report all fundraisers they sponsor, on whose behalf, and the amount of money they raised. “Grassroots” lobbyists (like Jack Abramoff’s former colleague Michael Scanlon), who are paid to drum up public pressure to influence lawmakers, must also be subject to reporting requirements.
  
  These requirements should include contributions made to non-political organizations that honor public officials, or nonprofit entities the official controls. These areas remain the most unreported and unregulated conflicts of interest. The same holds true for the funding of institutions established in the public official’s name (for example, presidential libraries).

Finally, all disclosures should be made available electronically, so that the press and public can monitor these activities.

• Regulating Congressional travel. I would restrict funding of Congressional travel to two sources: the government and nonprofit organizations expressly approved by Congress’s ethics oversight bodies. If it is important either to the national interest or to help Members do their jobs more effectively that they visit certain places, the government should pay the costs. If such trips are for humanitarian or other charitable purposes, a reputable organization—known to all—that has taken this cause as its mission may be able to finance it. (There is a clear difference between a well-known charitable foundation and the type of shell nonprofit set up by Jack Abramoff.) I would forbid registered lobbyists from participating in these nonprofit financed trips. Finally, Members of Congress should no longer be able to fly on private jets with corporate lobbyists, while paying far less than this travel’s true cost.
  
• Gift ban. I would ban Members of Congress or their staff from accepting gifts of any value from registered lobbyists. Public servants should pay for their own meals luxury goods, sporting events and entertainment, just as their constituents do.
  
• Enforcement. Congress has proved over and over again its inability to effectively police or discipline its own members and staff. To ensure that ethics rules are strictly enforced, Congress should establish an entirely independent entity, insulated from partisanship or special interest manipulation, to investigate ethics complaints and recommend consequences.
  
  Unfortunately, last week a Senate committee voted against creating such a body. This battle is not over. If elected, I will work with Senators McCain, Collins and Lieberman to continue the fight for this essential reform.
  
• Slowing the “revolving door” between public service and lobbying. The moratorium on former public officials lobbying ex-colleagues should be extended from one year to two.
  
• Curbing patronage. My plan would make it a federal crime for federal officials to “steer” business to lobbyists. The practice of a public official attempting to set up a former aide in business, by demanding that donors or political allies throw business a certain lobbyist’s way, is appalling.

• Making “earmarks” transparent. As Senator John McCain has noted, the appropriations process is broken, and needs to be fixed. I would abolish the current practice of Members adding “earmarks” to legislation after appropriation bills have cleared both houses. While earmarks are often justified and necessary, this particular practice makes a mockery of the appropriations process. I would also prohibit earmarks not contained in a bill’s actual legislative language, also known as “soft earmarks.”

• Ending special access for former Members of Congress engaged in lobbying. Finally, I would ban registered lobbyists who once served in Congress from access to the House and Senate floor or Member gymnasiums.

Over the next month I will travel across New Jersey to share my plan to clean up Congress with the citizens of our state. The Kean Plan to Clean up Congress is strong medicine—just what Washington needs in these ethically-challenged times.

Ethics should not be a legal formality. Ethical behavior should be a sacred code of honor for public servants. There is no more important issue in this campaign, and for our country, than the integrity of our government. I look forward to discussing my record on this issue, and my plan for reform, in the weeks and months ahead.

Tom Kean
Mountainside, NJ

State Senator Tom Kean is a candidate for the United States Senate.

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