By Alexander Bolton and Josiah Ryan - 02/02/12 06:17 PM ET
The Senate voted 96 to 3 Thursday to prohibit members of Congress from
using non-public information for personal financial gain but beat back
a slew of amendments to further limit congressional perks.
The Senate action puts pressure on House Republicans to pass similar
legislation to quell allegations of congressional self-dealing at a
time when Congress's approval rating is at an all-time low.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Tuesday criticized the
Senate legislation as weak. His staff said he would move a
strengthened version of the bill to the House floor at the end of the
month.
Senators voted for an amendment Thursday to expand the legislation's
reporting requirements to members of the executive branch.
The legislation would mandate that lawmakers report all major
transactions within 30 days and file financial disclosure reports
electronically.
But lawmakers defeated several proposals to significantly reform the
perks and powers critics charge have a corrupting influence on Capitol
Hill.
Senators voted down a bipartisan proposal to permanently ban earmarks
as well as an amendment to require lawmakers and senior staff to
divest of stocks or put their stock holdings in blind trusts.
The amendment sponsored by Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Pat
Toomey (R-Pa.) to permanently ban earmarks failed by a vote of 40-59.
A solid block of Republicans, including Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.),
Roy Blunt (Mo.), Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), John
Hoeven (N.D.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas), James Inhofe (Okla.),
Dick Lugar (Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Pat Roberts (Kan.), Jeff
Sessions (Ala.), Richard Shelby (Ala.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.), voted
to preserve Congress's future power to earmark federal funds.
The amendment sponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jeff
Merkley (D-Ore.) requiring lawmakers and senior staff to divest of
stocks lost 26 to 73.
Senate leaders denied Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) a vote on an amendment to
deny federal pensions to lawmakers who become lobbyists.
The anti-lobbying amendment raised the hackles of some senior
lawmakers, including those planning to retire at the end of this year.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who will leave the Senate at the end of the
112th Congress, called the proposal "foolish."
"Why should someone who has worked and accumulated some equity and is
investing that in American businesses no longer be able to do that
when they're elected to public office?" he said Wednesday.
Leaders also denied a vote on an amendment sponsored by Sens. Michael
Bennet (D-Colo.) and Jon Tester (D-Mo.) to permanently bar lawmakers
from becoming lobbyists and restrict former staff from lobbying their
old bosses in Congress for a period of six years.
Senators defeated another amendment sponsored by Paul to prohibit
executive branch appointees and staff from having oversight,
rule-making, and loan- or grant-making authority over companies in
which they or their spouses have significant financial interest.
The amendment was designed to guard against the alleged improprieties
stemming from the bankruptcy of Solyndra, a solar-panel manufacturer
that received more than $500 million in federal loan guarantees.
A senior Senate Republican aide said GOP candidates would attack
Democratic incumbents who voted against the so-called Solyndra
amendment.
"Any Democrats who vote against this will face a bomb in the fall,"
said the aide.
Brown, Tester and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) voted against the amendment.
The Senate also rejected a resolution sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint
(R-S.C.) calling for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits
on members of Congress.
But the underlying proposal to ban lawmakers from using private
information they learn in the course of their duties to profit from
stock trades or other transactions received broad bipartisan support.
"We tried to focus at the specific task at hand, closing loopholes to
ensure that members of Congress play by the exact same rules as
everyone else," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a sponsor of
the legislation.
"This sorely-needed bill will establish for the first time a clear
fiduciary responsibility to the people we serve, removing any doubt
that the [Securities and Exchange Commission] and [Commodities Futures
Trading Commission] are empowered to investigate and prosecute cases
involving insider trading of non-public information that we have
access to through our jobs," she said.
Only three senators voted against final passage: Sens. Tom Coburn
(R-Okla.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.).
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment