Senators work to revive ethics bill

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Senate leaders worked to resuscitate an ethics and lobbying measure Thursday, with the new Democratic majority trying to stave off defeat on its first major bill and Republicans wanting to avoid being blamed for obstructing an overhaul.

Aides from both parties said the two sides were trying to resolve the dispute that derailed action on the legislation Wednesday, and were putting together amendments.

Barring further conflicts, a final vote could come as early as Thursday night.

There is strong bipartisan support for the general goals of the legislation: reducing the influence of lobbyists over policymaking; ending the gift and travel perks that have tainted the public's image of Congress; and forcing lawmakers to be more open about the pet projects they slip into legislation.

Action on the bill hit a wall Wednesday. Republicans were angry they could not get a vote on a proposal giving the president, with congressional approval, more power to kill single spending items in larger bills. So GOP senators voted against a resolution needed to move the bill to final passage.

On Thursday morning, both sides accused the other of killing the bill and betraying the trust of voters who had demanded that Congress clean up its act.

"What this maneuver shows is that the Republican leadership hasn't learned the lessons of the 2006 election," said Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y.

"The Democrat leadership does not have to kill this legislation," countered Republican leader Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record), R-Ky. "I believe that we owe it to the voters as well as the institution to come to a fair agreement and pass this legislation."

The dispute was over an attempt by Sen. Judd Gregg (news, bio, voting record), R-N.H., to get a vote on a modified version of a line-item veto. It would allow the president to single out spending items for elimination. Under Gregg's proposal, Congress would have to agree to the items expunged.

Democrats insisted that the proposal was not relevant to the ethics bill and too contentious to be dealt with in a short time. Gregg said it fit in the ethics bill because most of the items removed would be the special projects that have been linked to wasteful and inappropriate spending.

The two sides were working on an agreement under which Gregg would be guaranteed consideration of his bill at a later date.

Any deal would have to take in the objections of the Senate's senior member, Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., who is vehemently opposed to any legislation that might cede the legislative branch's power over the purse to the president.

The ethics and lobbying legislation would bar lawmakers from accepting gifts and travel paid for by lobbyists; make it more difficult for former lawmakers to lobby their old colleagues; deny pensions to lawmakers convicted of serious crimes; require more reporting by lobbyists on their activities; and require public disclosure of those home-state projects.

Democrats are determined to show voters they are changing the way Washington works so they made the measure their first order of business after assuming power in the Senate.

The House, on its first day of Democratic control, changed some of the rules concerning gifts, meals and travel from lobbyists. The House is scheduled to take up legislation next month that, like the Senate bill, would change lobbying law and require a House-Senate compromise.

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On the Net:

Information on the bill, S.1, can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_go_co/senate_ethics [link]