Congress loses all apparent interest in ethics reform

The latest highlight of the congressional ethics reform effort is the rejection of a congressional ethics office.

A Senate committee yesterday rejected a bipartisan proposal to establish an independent office to oversee the enforcement of congressional ethics and lobbying laws, signaling a reluctance in Congress to beef up the enforcement of its rules on lobbying.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs voted 11 to 5 to defeat a proposal by its chairman, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), and its ranking Democrat, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), that would have created an office of public integrity to toughen enforcement and combat the loss of reputation Congress has suffered after the guilty plea in January of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Democrats joined Republicans in killing the measure.

The vote was described by government watchdog groups and several lawmakers as the latest example of Congress's waning interest in stringent lobbying reform. After starting the year with bold talk about banning privately paid meals and travel, lawmakers are moving toward producing a bill that would ban few of their activities and would rely mostly on stepped-up disclosure and reporting requirements as their lobbying changes.

"Lobbying reform is going more the enforcement route," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "What's that going to do? Nothing much."

So, what exactly is the Republican-led congress willing to do to solve its ethics problems? The question assumes that congressional Republicans even perceive a problem, which is, perhaps, a foolhardy assumption to make.

Consider this astonishing quote in the L.A. Times from Sen. George Voinovich:

"There is no need to reinvent the wheel," said Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), who led opposition to the proposal. "The Office of Public Integrity is a solution in search of a problem."

With all due respect, senator, your party's rapacious practices are a problem in desperate need of a solution, and everyone but you and your colleagues seems to know it. If the existing "wheel" worked, we wouldn't be in this mess.