Washington – Members of Congress must look at their own behavior as well as lobbyists’ if they are to regain the public’s trust, senators said Wednesday.
At the same time, lobbyists and those who sponsor trips for lawmakers warned against overreacting to the headlines on the influence peddling activities of Jack Abramoff. In particular, they said, banning all privately funded travel could isolate lawmakers from the knowledge they need to write law.
What’s clear, said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is that Congress can’t tackle the big issues facing the nation without the trust of the public. “And the public’s trust in Congress is perilously low,” she said.
“Frankly, the status quo stinks and cries out for us to clear the air,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the committee’s top Democrat.
Leaders from both parties in both chambers have promoted measures to tighten rules and laws governing lawmaker contacts with lobbyists.
But speakers at the hearing also said members of Congress must look at how they do business and get elected, larger issues that could complicate quick passage of the first lobbying reform bill in a decade.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., co-sponsor of one of the major lobbying bills, said Congress must tackle the problem of earmarks, special-interest projects that get inserted in larger pieces of legislation, often with the help of lobbyists.
