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US Senate votes to clean up its act as corruption case looms:Posted By: Martha Buffett WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate voted overwhelmingly to toughen lobbying regulations in a bid to avert voter backlash in November, amid a growing corruption scandal centred on an ex-Republican lobbyist.The Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 was passed by a 90-8 vote on Wednesday, only hours after Jack Abramoff was sentenced to five years and 10 months in jail for fraud after doing a deal with prosecutors. The measure, which for some lawmakers did not go far enough, aims at making the legislative process more transparent, especially at the closing stage of writing a bill, and prevent lobbyists from exerting too much influence behind the scenes. It tightens existing restrictions, including banning former lawmakers-turned lobbyists from Senate sessions, prevents lobbyists from giving gifts, meals or trips paid with private money The Senate reform, which now goes before the House of Representatives, comes seven months before mid-term, legislative elections renewing the entire House and a third of the Senate that the lobbying scandal could make risky for the Republican majority. Many lawmakers are nervous over the bombshells Abramoff agreed to give up in a deal with the prosecution in January to reveal the workings of the corrupt system he set up in Congress. The prison sentence delivered Wednesday for defrauding lenders in a Florida gambling boat deal was substantially less than the maximum he could have been given, thanks to the deal. Since Abramoff's fall from grace, several elected officials, including President George W. Bush, have returned the donations they received in the past from the former lobbyist. In drawing up their bill, the Senators rejected or avoided several proposals to bolster anti-corruption measures and left themselves some loopholes. For example, not all privately funded trips are banned, they can still travel in a private jet with first class fares, and they still can get invited to dinner by companies. Most significantly, they turned down by a 67-30 vote creating an independent ethics committee, much to the disappointment of Republican Susan Collins. "I continue to believe that ... that the process is inherently conflicted and that the public does not trust a system where we set our own rules, we're our own advisers, we're our own investigators, we're our own prosecutors, we're our own judges and we're our own juries," she said. "Changing a few of the rules does no good if there's no enforcement. A major overhaul is still needed," said Democratic Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry, who voted against the measure. "The Senate left the fox to guard the chicken coop," he added. While the House has yet to tackle lobbying reform, some of its leaders have already been at the receiving end of the House ethics committee. Former House majority leader Tom DeLay, one of those most threatened by Abramoff's revelations, was repeatedly reprimanded by the committee. His successor, John Boehner, has promised to purge the system of corruption and make it trustworthy of the electorate. Courtesy Of: Yahoo! News The information reported above is property of Yahoo! inc. and reprinted or modified with legitimate permission. We thank Yahoo! inc. for the kind cooperation with us and other shareholders. |
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