Issue Position: Corruption in Government

Issue Position

Under Republican control, our nation's government has become engulfed in corruption. K Street lobbyist Jack Abramoff is a star player, as are Vice President Dick Cheney's former Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, former Majority Leader Tom DeLay and former California Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham. And, these are only the people whose names have already become public. More are sure to come.

If we want an honest, open government working on behalf of the American people - rather than corporate contributors - it is clear that the status quo in Washington must change. To that end, I have joined Democratic Leader Pelosi and more than 160 of our colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle to introduce strong, comprehensive ethics reform legislation. Our bill would ban lobbyist gifts and privately-sponsored travel, toughen public disclosure laws for lobbying activities, and slow the revolving door between Government and lobbying firms.

Reforming our ethics process is important, but lobbying reform alone will not do the job. Lobbyists' power and influence comes from the dependence that elected officials have on them to help raise the hundreds of thousands - if not millions -- of dollars that are needed for re-election purposes. Without severing this reliance on fundraising, we will never be able to cut ties to lobbyists.

Public financing of elections is the only way to truly achieve that goal. I am a cosponsor of the "Clean Money, Clean Election" bill that would establish voluntary campaign spending limits and provide public funding for candidates who abide by the rules. For the first time, this would give candidates for Congress the ability to forgo massive private fundraising without losing the ability to compete on a level playing field.

Public financing of elections works. There are reforms at the state level across our country that showcase this reality. We should learn from the experience of the states and enact broad public financing reform for federal races as well. Only such full scale change will put an end to the culture of Corruption in our nation's Capitol.

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