For Immediate Release
August 2, 2007
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Senator John McCain Travels Back To Washington To Debate Ethics Reform Legislation:
"It's a sham, it's a travesty, and we are not getting at the root of the problem, which is the earmarks. We can say that somebody has to wait two years instead of one year before they become a lobbyist and not be able to buy a member of congress a meal. But the heart of the problem and cause of the problem is the earmarks. That's what has caused the corruption. It wasn't free meals that got members of congress in jail, it was the abuse and corruption of the earmarks, and this is not a serious approach to it."
"There is almost no accountability and there is no transparency, when the majority leader of the Senate is the one who certifies whether there are earmarks on [a bill] or not is very much akin to putting the fox in charge of the hen house. We, by a vote of 96 to nothing, had very stringent earmark identification and elimination [legislation]. Through a very arcane parliamentary process they threw those out and put in the weakest kinds of ability for the American people to eliminate what has been clearly a corrupting influence in Washington. I'm very disappointed and I'm going to fight against it."