Congresspedia's "Congress in the News" updates, Sept. 20-Oct. 17, 2006 [1]
Submitted by Conor Kenny [2] on
- Senate [3] Minority Leader Harry Reid [4] (D-Nev.) improperly paid Christmas bonuses to staff from his Ritz-Carlton condo from his campaign fund. (AP [5] story)
- After meeting with the House Ethics Committee [6], Rep. Dale Kildee [7] (D-Mich.) confirmed that allegations had been made against a second congressman in relation to the congressional page scandal [8]. (Reuters [9] story)
- Senate [3] Minority Leader Harry Reid [10] (D-Nev.) announced that he is filing an amendment to his ethics report to more fully describe the circumstances surrounding a Las Vegas land deal. (AP [11] story)
- Rep. Curt Weldon [12] (R-Pa.) is under investigation by the Justice Department [13] for allegedly aiding clients of his daughter's lobbying firm in an unlawful way. (McClatchy News [14] story)
- Rep. Bob Ney [15] (R-Ohio) pled guilty to bribery charges stemming from his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff [16]. (Washington Post [17] story)
- Billing statements from ex-clients of Jack Abramoff [16] contradict statements by Rep. Richard Pombo [18] (R-Calif.) asserting that he had never been approached professionally by the disgraced lobbyist. (TPMmuckraker [19] story)
- Senate Minority Leader [20] Harry Reid [10] (D-Nev.) failed to properly report circumstances surrounding a Nevada land sale. (AP [21] story)
- The FBI is investigating a staffer of Sen. Arlen Specter [22] (R-Pa.) for allegedly steering defense funding to clients of her husband, a lobbyist. (USA Today [23] story)
- In April, Sen. Arlen Specter [22] (R-Pa.) became the second senator to have his financial disclosure forms reviewed by the FBI during the current session. (Sen. Conrad Burns [24] (R-Mont.) was the other). (Roll Call [25] story)
- Sen. George Allen [26] (R-Va.) did not properly disclose stock options he had accrued while working in the private sector upon taking up his Senate [3] seat. (AP [27] story)
- According to a new study, the turnout rate in this year’s primary elections was the lowest ever recorded. (Associated Press [28] story)
- Rep. Tom Reynolds [29]’s (R-N.Y.) chief of staff has resigned in relation to the Mark Foley [30] congressional page scandal. (AP [31] story)
- According to its communications director, the National Republican Congressional Committee [32] would accept former Rep. Mark Foley [33]'s (R-Fla.) campaign money if he chose to donate it to them. (New York Times [34] story)
- The FBI is investigating possible criminal activity in relation to sexually explicit emails and instant messages sent by ex-Rep. Mark Foley [35] (R-Fla.) to former House [36] pages. (Washington Post [37] story)
- Ex-Rep. Mark Foley [35]'s (R-Fla.) name will remain on the ballot for the November elections despite his resignation from office. (TPMmuckraker [38] article)
- Rep. Mark Foley [35] (R-Fla.) resigned over questions regarding inappropriate emails and instant messages he sent to former House [36] pages. (AP [39] story)
- The House [36] passed a measure giving the president [40] the authority to order wiretaps on U.S. citizens for up to 90 days without a court order. (New York Times [41] story)
- Sen. Bob Menendez [42] (D-N.J.) severed ties with his top advisor in response to a tape of the advisor pressuring a psychiatrist to hire a physician as a favor to Menendez. (Newark Star-Ledger [43] story)
- The opponent of Rep. Mark Foley [44] (R-Fla.) is calling for an investigation into whether e-mails sent by the congressman to a former House [36] page were inappropriate. (TPMmuckraker [45] story)
- The Senate [46] rejected an amendment sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter [47] (R-Pa.) and Patrick Leahy [48] (D-Vt.) to a detainee bill [49] that would have given terror prisoners habeus corpus [50] rights. (Washington Post [51] story)
- The House of Representatives [36] passed a bill [49] establishing clearer guidelines for the interrogation of terror detainees [52], but still barring those prisoners from challenging their detentions in court. (Washington Post [53] story)
- House [36] leaders suspended a multi-million dollar wireless communications license after prosecutors charged that it was improperly awarded by Rep. Bob Ney [54] (R-Ohio) in exchange for gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff [16]. (Washington Post [55] story)
- The House [36] passed legislation sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen [56] (R-Fla.) making it a federal crime to accompany a minor across state lines in order to obtain an abortion without parental notification. (New York Times [57] story)
- A top aide to Rep. Charlie Bass [58] (R-N.H.) resigned after admitting to posing as a liberal blogger to make posts discounting the electoral chances of Bass’s opponent. (AP [59] story)
- House [36] Democratic [60] Leader Nancy Pelosi [61] (D-Calif.) has requested the first closed meeting of the House of Representatives since 1983 in order to discuss classified material related to the War on Terror [62]. (AP [63] story)
- Rep. Jane Harman [64] (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat [60] on the House Intelligence Committee [65], called for the release of a second intelligence report painting a grim picture in Iraq as well as April’s National Intelligence Estimate. (TPMmuckraker [66] story)
- Sens. Dick Durbin [67] (R-Ill.) and Charles Schumer [68] (D-N.Y.) will call on the Director of National Intelligence to discuss with Congress [69] revelations from the April 2006 National Intelligence Estimate and possible misleading statements made by Vice President Dick Cheney [70]. (TPMmuckraker [71] story)
- Rep. Ralph Hall [72] (R-Texas) denied charges that in 1997 he, at the behest of Jack Abramoff [16], called into question the credibility of a sex crime victim in order to benefit an Abramoff client. (TPMmuckraker [73] story)
- An aide to Rep. Charlie Bass [58] (R-N.H.) was caught using his office computer to pose as a liberal blogger suggesting “fellow” liberals direct their resources away from the campaign of Bass’s November opponent. (Roll Call [74] story)
- Rep. Katherine Harris [75] (R-Fla.) has received $6,000 from troubled Rep. Bob Ney [76]’s (R-Ohio) political action committee, but claims that she cannot return the money because it has been spent. (Miami Herald [77] story)
- A military court has ruled that Sen. Lindsey Graham [78] (R-S.C.) cannot serve as both a member of Congress [69] and a military judge at the same time, something the senator has been doing. (Associated Press [79] story)
- The House Ethics Committee [6] cleared Jeffrey Shockey [80], deputy chief of staff for the House Appropriations Committee [81] under Rep. Jerry Lewis [80] (R-Calif.), of any wrongdoing in accepting a $2 million dollar buyout from his previous employer, a prominent lobbying firm. (Roll Call [82] story)
- Sens. John Warner [83] (R-Va.), John McCain [84] (R-Ariz.), and Lindsey Graham [85] (R-S.C.) reached a compromise with the White House [86] over legislation [87] dealing with the treatment of terror detainees. (Washington Post [88] story)
- A recent poll found that only 25% of Americans approve of the way Congress [69] is doing its job. (New York Times [89] story)
- The House of Representatives [36] passed a bill requiring that voters show government- issued photo ID's in order to participate in federal elections. (Roll Call [90] story)
- The House Judiciary Committee [91] rejected, reconsidered, and then passed a Bush Administration [92]-backed bill dealing with the treatment of terror detainees. (TPM Muckraker [93] story)
- Sens. Arlen Specter [94] (R-Pa.) and Patrick Leahy [95] (D-Vt.) of the Senate Judiciary Committee [96] have requested that their committee be allowed to review and approve the Warner [97]-McCain [98]-Graham [99] detainee treatment bill before it is sent to the floor for consideration. (TPM Muckraker [100] story)
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington [101] (CREW) named Sens. Conrad Burns [102] (R-Mont.), Bill Frist [103] (R-Tenn.), and Rick Santorum [104] (R-Pa.) and Reps. Alan Mollohan [105] (D-W.V.), Roy Blunt [106] (R-Mo.), Marilyn Musgrave [107] (R-Colo.), Ken Calvert [108] (R-Calif.), Richard Pombo [109] (R-Calif.), John Doolittle [110] (R-Calif.), Rick Renzi [111] (R-Ariz.), Tom Feeney [112] (R-Fla.), Pete Sessions [113] (R-Texas), Katherine Harris [114] (R-Fla.), John Sweeney [115] (R-N.Y.), William Jefferson [116] (D-La.), Charles Taylor [117] (R-N.C.), Jerry Lewis [118] (R-Calif.), Maxine Waters [119] (D-Calif.), Gary Miller [120] (R-Calif.), and Curt Weldon [121] (R-Pa.) as the most corrupt members of the U.S. Congress [69] in 2006. (CREW [122] press release)
- Rep. Patrick McHenry [123] (R-N.C.) has asked Rep. Jim Clyburn [124] (D-S.C.) to appear in front of the House [36] Ethics Committee [6] to explain an alleged conversation he had in his congressional office with DNC [125] Chairman Howard Dean [126] regarding campaign funding. (The Hill [127] story)
- Senate Democrats [60], including Sens. Dick Durbin [67] (D-Ill.) and Charles Schumer [128] (D-N.Y.), have called for a probe into cronyism with regards to hiring practices in Iraq. (Reuters [129] story)