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Statement on Senate Ethics Reform

Statement for the Senate Record

August 2, 2007

Mr(s). President, following the tragic collapse of the 35W bridge in Minneapolis that took place yesterday, August 1, 2007, I returned to Minnesota this morning to learn all of the facts, and pledge the necessary federal resources for the victims, the investigation, and the repair.  By returning to Minnesota, I was, unfortunately, unable to be in Washington, DC to vote on (i) the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to concur in the House Amendment S.1; and (ii) the motion to concur with the House Message to S.1.  Had the tragedy in my state not taken me back to Minnesota, I would have voted for the motion to invoke cloture as well as the underlying bill.  In short, I would have voted to change the course in Washington.   

When I arrived in Washington in January, my husband, daughter and I pulled up in our family Saturn, loaded with my husband’s college dishes and a shower curtain that I found in the basement from 1980. But we brought a little more than dishes and shower curtains. We brought a commitment for change – something the people of our state – Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, from Worthington to Moorhead to Duluth to Rochester – called for very clearly and loudly in November.

We also brought a Minnesota moral compass, grounded in a simple notion of Minnesota fairness: A notion that all people should be on equal footing in the halls of Congress. 

But they can’t be on equal footing when their elected representatives are selling their votes for trips to Scotland or have cash in the freezer.  They can’t be on equal footing unless this new Congress delivers real, meaningful ethics reform.

That’s why I came to Washington back in January and why I am delighted to see that the Senate passed a strong, bipartisan ethics reform package today.

Instead of maintaining business-as-usual, this ethics legislation will bring meaningful and robust reform in a number of critical areas.  

Among other things, this legislation will bring about more transparency for lobbyist bundling and political campaign fund activity; greater transparency in earmarking; a strong lobbyist gift ban; meaningful limits on privately funded travel; strong revolving door restrictions; and expanded public disclosure of lobbyist activities.

Stated simply, these reforms are needed – and they are needed now – to restore the American public’s faith in the integrity of their government as well as their elected representatives. 

It is hard to exaggerate the importance of what’s at stake.  

Ethics is woven into the very fabric of how our government does business. And ethics reform goes to the very heart of our democracy, to the public trust and respect that’s essential to the health of our constitutional system.

Recent scandals have cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the laws and policies that come out of Washington.   The American public’s receding faith in the integrity of our legislative process means that ethics reform is now central to every public issue that we will consider – whether it’s energy policy, or health care reform, tax policy, or even homeland security.

The ability of Congress to deal credibly and forthrightly with these other issues depends on reforming our own ethical rules.

The long-term challenges that we face in this country are enormous. They include high energy prices and a growing dependence on foreign oil; health care costs that have spiraled out of control; global warming that threatens the future of our environment and our economy; a mounting national debt; and a growing middle class squeeze.

I believe that there are solutions to these challenges. We can achieve energy independence by investing smart and having some guts to take on the oil companies. We can get this country back on the right fiscal track, and move forward to more affordable health care. We can deliver much-needed and long overdue relief to the middle class. These are the things that the people of Minnesota sent me to Washington to fight for.

The people of Minnesota also sent me here because they have not yet seen the bold change of direction that we need to make these solutions happen.  Instead, they have seen a Washington where the rules are tilted against them and where the interests of well-connected lobbyists come at the expense of the interests of the middle class.

When our energy policy is drafted in secret meetings with the oil companies, we all end up paying more at the pump because they’ve failed to invest in renewable energy. When our health care legislation is written by the drug companies, we all pay more because they’ve banned negotiation on prices. The people of this country know corruption when they see it and they saw last November who was benefiting and who was getting hurt.

Business as usual doesn’t only generate bad policy and wasteful spending. It also erodes public trust in the integrity of our government institutions, our elected leaders, and the law-making process itself.  We the American people know what we want from Washington. It is this: a government that’s focused on doing what’s best for our nation, and on securing a better and more prosperous future for the people.

This reform legislation gets us there.  By passing this legislation, we will make a positive difference in how Congress performs its duties – and these reforms will send a strong, clear message to the American people that we are here for them and focused solely on representing their interests.

And that’s the way it should be.