Ethics Reform That Works

Paul Blumenthal

January 29, 2007

Paul Blumenthal is a research assistant at the Sunlight Foundation and author of the blog, "In Broad Daylight," that tracks daily news on money in politics and reform in Congress.

During the Republican National Convention in 2004, the Edison Electric Institute and the National Mining Association, two big opponents of regulating the energy industry, threw twin parties to honor two high-profile climate change skeptics, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. The notorious former majority leader, Tom DeLay, R-Texas, regularly traveled in chartered jets provided by corporations and registered lobbyists. Former Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., negotiated and pushed the Bush administration’s Medicare Prescription Drug bill while simultaneous holding secret job talks with PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry’s lobbying arm. The K Street Project forced lobby shops to fire Democrats and hire Republicans. All of that is about to change with the passage of ethics rules in the House and a sweeping ethics package in the Senate

While the House quickly changed some of its rules to place new restrictions on members, the Senate worked to produce a much broader set of reforms. These reforms have been touted as creating new restrictions on lobbyists and members of Congress that fundamentally alter the relationship between the two. The House must now move to pass an ethics bill of its own.

New restrictions, however, do not hold the only promise for progressive reformers. A key tenet of progressivism is the belief that politics and government are not to be ceded to an unelected group of elites in Washington, but that ordinary citizens, given the right tools and information, can hold their own members of Congress accountable. The public needs information—often embargoed in Washington—on legislation, committee hearings, and the activities of members and lobbyists to be able responsibly act in our democracy.

There are promises of reform in the Senate bill focused on getting citizens more information. Online databases of members' of Congress travel reports, lobbying disclosure reports and foreign agent registrations will soon be available for public consumption. Much of this information was previously sequestered in Washington offices with short hours and payment required to make copies. An amendment by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., mandated that all Senate committee and subcommittee hearings must be placed online on each committee’s website as a video or audio file or as a printed transcript giving the public a permanent seat inside the hearing rooms.

This is all just the beginning. Citizens often have too little information to make educated decisions and judgments. We must free up information by requiring greater disclosure requirements of lobbyists and contemporaneous online filing of all information reported out of Congress. The taxpayer-funded research created by the Congressional Research Service should be available online to the public at large.

The disclosure regime in Washington must catch up to the current practices of lobbyists on Capitol Hill. The Senate bill requires quarterly filing of reports, including new reports detailing fundraising activity by lobbyists. Yet, still more information is needed for public consumption. Lobbyists must report who they meet with and what bill or issue they aim to influence. All individuals engaged in lobbying must register as a lobbyist and not hide from disclosure requirements as a “consultant.” The burden of reporting this information is miniscule compared to the erosion of trust it addresses.

The Senate ethics bill brings transparency to earmarking by forcing earmarks to carry the sponsor name, the purpose, the recipient and a certification that no family member has a financial interest in the earmark. Also, all earmarks must be available online 48 hours before they can be considered on the floor. The same 48-hour online rule goes for conference committee reports, too.

Technology is erasing boundaries of time and space that previously restricted the ability of political information to flow freely to citizens hungry for a clearer view of their government. Justice Louis Brandeis not only told us that shining “sunlight” is the best solution but he also observed, “The most important political office is that of private citizen.” Progressives must aim to restore this office, creating an informed citizenry with the knowledge, just a mouse click away, to ensure they are properly represented in their democracy .