It
is the American people who pay the price for government corruption. In
fact, the cost of corruption is felt every day by families in Southwest
Washington. Middle-class families are desperately trying to pay higher
bills with lower wages. Meanwhile, special interests continue to reap
lavish tax breaks and extravagant rewards. As long as K Street
lobbyists control the halls of Congress, the priorities of the American
people will continue to go unaddressed.
Congress must try and restore the American people's trust in the
political process. Special interest money clouds the debate on too many
issues of importance, distracting the public from the merits and values
on which a candidate should be judged. The cost of running for federal
office has become so great - and the threat of huge third party
expenditures is so real - that Congressional candidates are forced to
devote a disproportionate amount of their time to raising money rather
than discussing issues critical to the American people, like health
care reform, Social Security, and improvements to our local schools. |
Reforming Lobbying and Ethics Rules
Congressman Baird has voted numerous times in support of comprehensive
reforms which ensure transparency and adherence to the highest ethical
standards in government. The reforms supported by Congressman Baird
include:
- Banning Members or employees of the House from knowingly accepting a gift from a registered lobbyist.
- Prohibiting
Members from influencing employment decisions or practices in the
private sector on the basis of partisan political affiliation.
- Prohibiting a
Member or employee of the House from accepting a reimbursement for
transportation, lodging or other expense related to a trip during which
the Member or employee is accompanied by a registered lobbyist. This
rule also requires that Members or employees seek prior approval from
the Ethics Committee for any trip
and certify that the trip will not be financed in part by a registered
lobbyist or an entity that retains or employs a lobbyist.
- Prohibiting a
Member or employee of the House from using personal, official, or
campaign funds to pay for a flight on a non governmental airplane that
is not licensed by the FAA to operate for compensation or hire.
- Requiring the Ethics Committee to provide annual ethic training to each Member and employee of the House.
- Providing
for accountability and transparency in earmarks by requiring that the
name of requesting Members be included in legislation.
- Denying Congressional pensions to Members of Congress who have been convicted of certain felonies.
- Requiring campaign committees to disclose "bundled" contributions by lobbyists.
Reading Legislation
Congressman Baird recognizes that his votes in Congress have
consequences for the residents of Southwest Washington and Americans
everywhere. That is why he believes Members of Congress and the public
should have an opportunity to read and fully understand legislation and
its impact before it is brought to the House floor for a vote.
Unfortunately, far too many bills - totaling hundreds of pages of text
and costing hundreds of billions of dollars - have been voted on only
hours after they are made available to Members.
Congressman Baird has
introduced legislation that would strengthen House Rules to ensure that
all Members of Congress have sufficient time to read legislation before
a vote. His bill also requires that legislation be made available to
the general public on the Internet so that those impacted by the
legislation would have an opportunity to review it and offer input to
their elected officials before it is voted on.
Stopping Insider Trading on Capitol Hill
When someone buys or sells stocks based on nonpublic information that
they receive from inside a company, they are guilty of insider trading.
However, it is not currently a violation of insider trading laws to buy
or sell stocks based on nonpublic information obtained from inside the
Congress.
Congressman Baird
believes that the buying or selling of stock based on this type of
nonpublic information has the potential to unfairly profit those inside
Congress or those with connections to Congress at the expense of those
who do not have access to this same information. He is very concerned
that privileging a select group of investors with confidential
information about congressional activity is not only a misuse of a
congressional office, but also undermines investor confidence in the
fairness and integrity of the securities market.
To stop this practice, Congressman Baird introduced the Stop Trading on
Congressional Knowledge (S.T.O.C.K.) Act. His legislation:
- Prohibits Members of Congress,
Congressional staff, or Executive Agency employee from buying or
selling stocks, bonds, or commodities based on nonpublic information
they obtain because of their status.
- Prohibits anyone outside of Congress or the Executive Branch from
making investment decisions on nonpublic information received from a
Member of Congress, congressional staff, or Executive Branch
employee.
- Prohibits Members or staff from disclosing material nonpublic
information with individuals or firms if they believe that information will
be used to inform stock trading decisions.
- Requires Members of Congress and staff who are subject to financial
disclosure requirements to report the purchase, sale, or exchange of
any stock, bond, or commodity transaction exceeding $1,000 within 90
days.
- Requires firms that specialize in "political intelligence" who obtain their
information directly from Congress or the Executive Branch to register
with the House and Senate, as lobbying firms are now required to do.
Congressman Baird believes that Members of Congress and congressional
staffers should be concerned first and foremost with serving the
American people and not with fattening their stock portfolios on the
taxpayer's dime.
Supporting Campaign Finance Reform
Congressman Baird supports efforts to reform our campaign finance
system. Congressman Baird strongly supported the Bipartisan Campaign
Reform Act (BCRA), which was signed into law in March of 2002. The bill
bans all soft money contributions to national parties. It also bars
unions, corporations and non-profit groups from buying broadcast
"issue" ads that refer to a federal candidate shortly before an
election.
On August 6, 2003, Congressman Baird, along with a bipartisan group of
22 members of Congress, sent an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in
support of BCRA. The amicus brief outlined the legal and political
rationale for the legislation and encouraged the Supreme Court to
sustain the will of the Legislative branch and the majority of citizens
that supported BCRA. Ultimately, on December 10, 2003, the Supreme
Court agreed with this position and upheld BCRA. While the Supreme
Court ruling is certainly good news, there is still plenty of work to
be done. Congressman Baird will continue to fight to protect the rights
of individuals over those of special interest groups.
Reforming Elections
Congressman Baird feels strongly about improving our federal election
system to ensure that every vote is counted and that every American who
is eligible to vote is afforded that right. He believes that all voting
systems need to be backed up with paper ballots to ensure
accountability and to protect the integrity of our elections. He has cosponsored legislation that would improve voter verification
processes, shorten waiting times for voters, and create other standards
intended to guarantee that the right to vote is protected and that
ballot-counting methods are reliable and accurate.
Providing for Continuity of Representation
Members
of Congress have a duty to ensure that our government will continue to
function following a catastrophe or national crisis. Since September
11th, there has been limited discussion of how to address the potential
for a catastrophic level of vacancies in Congress. If Congress does not
act, a major attack on a large U.S. city or heavily-populated area
could leave an entire region of the country without representation; the
party make-up of Congress could be significantly altered; and Congress
could be left unable to carry out its responsibilities. There is
currently no workable plan in place to ensure the continuity of
representation in Congress.
Congressman Baird recognizes the importance of addressing this
unresolved problem. He has introduced a constitutional amendment that
would ensure that mass vacancies in the House and Senate could be
filled immediately after they occur to ensure the continuity of
representation until special elections could be held. He will continue
to raise awareness about the urgency of addressing this problem.
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