Barack Obama delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor in support of the Honest Government and Leadership Act. This legislation would provide increased transparency and accountability, reduce the influence of special interests, and bring about the concrete changes we need in Washington. Obama joined with Senator Russ Feingold to introduce Lobbying and Ethics Reform Act.
“First, let me commend Senator Reid for his leadership on this bill and especially my good friend Senator Feingold, who I have worked closely with on this issue over the past year and a half.”
“The bill that’s before us today could not be more urgently needed. For too long, the American people have seen lobbyists treat the legislative process like a game, using targeted contributions to maximize their leverage. For too long, people have felt like their voice and their interests have been drowning in a sea of lobbyist money in Washington.”
“This is not the first time we have faced a crisis of confidence in government. Around the turn of the last century, wealth was becoming more concentrated in the hands of a few robber barons, railroad tycoons and oil magnates. It was an era known as the Gilded Age, and it was made possible by a government that played along.”
“But when President Theodore Roosevelt took office, he wouldn’t play along. He devoted his presidency to busting trusts, breaking up monopolies, and doing his best to give the American people a shot at the American dream once more.”
“America needs this kind of leadership more than ever. We need leadership that sees government not as a tool to enrich well-connected friends and high-priced lobbyists, but as the defender of fairness and opportunity for every American.”
“We cannot settle for a second Gilded Age in America. And yet we find ourselves once more in the midst of a new economy where more wealth is in danger of falling into fewer hands; where CEO pay grows from year to year as the average worker’s pay remains stagnant; where Americans are struggling like never before to pay their medical bills, or their kids’ tuition, or high gas prices, all while the profits of the drug and insurance and oil industries have never been higher.”
“And once again, we are faced with a politics that makes all of this possible. In recent years, the doors of Congress and the White House have been thrown wide open to an army of Washington lobbyists who have turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. Year after year after year, they stand in the way of our progress as a country. They stop us from addressing the issues that matter most to our people.”
“Take health care. The drug and insurance industries spent $1 billion in lobbying over the last decade. They got what they paid for when their friends in Congress broke the rules and twisted arms to push through a prescription drug bill that actually made it illegal for our own government to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies for cheaper drug prices.”
“And because reform has been blocked up to now, there are parents and grandparents in this country who are walking into a drugstore and wondering how their Social Security check is going to cover a prescription that’s more expensive than it was a month ago; those who are being forced to choose between their medicine and their groceries because they can no longer afford both.”
“Let me be clear, I do not begrudge businesses for trying to make a profit, and I do not begrudge them for hiring lobbyists to plead their case before Congress. It is protected political speech, and we appreciate that there are many lobbyists who represent their clients well and fairly. But it’s time we had a Congress that tells the drug companies and the oil companies and the insurance industry that while they may get a seat at the table in Washington, they don’t get to buy every chair.”
“We need to put an end to the prevailing culture in this town. And that’s what we’ve been trying to do for the past couple of years. Last year, Congress came up with a watered-down version of reform. Last year, I and Senator Feingold and Senator McCain, voted against it because we thought we could do better. So in January, I came back with Senator Feingold and we set a high bar for reform. And I’m pleased to report that the bill before us today comes very close to what we proposed.”
“By passing this bill, we will ban gifts and meals and end subsidized travel on corporate jets. We will close the revolving door between Pennsylvania Avenue and K Street. And we will make sure that the American people could see all the pet projects that lawmakers are trying to pass before they are actually voted on.”
“And we’ll do something more. Over the objections of powerful voices in both parties, we’ll ensure that our laws shine a bright light on how lobbyists help fill the campaign coffers of members of Congress by bundling contributions from others. Because in an era in which soft money is prohibited, the real measure of a lobbyist’s influence isn’t how much money he’s contributed, it’s how much he’s raised from others.”
“For too long, this practice has been hidden from public view. But today, we can change that. I’m pleased that the amendment I’ve offered on bundling is part of this bill, and I want to thank Rep. Chris Van Hollen who has fought so hard to get this provision included in the House bill. As the Washington Post described the bundling provision earlier this year: ‘No single change would add more to public understanding of how money really operates in Washington.’”
“So there’s a lot of good in this bill, and I truly hope and believe that it will change the way we do business in Washington. Let’s not forget that there’s more we need to do.”
“One of the things I’ve argued is the necessity of an independent entity to enforce ethics rules in Congress. Because no matter how well we police our own conduct, so long as we’re our own prosecutor, judge, and jury, the public will never have complete trust in our decisions. So far, that’s a fight I’ve lost, but I’ll continue to support independent enforcement because I believe it’s in our nation’s best interests.”
“I also believe that if we’re serious about change, we need to have a real discussion about public financing for congressional elections. Because even if we can stop lobbyists from buying us lunch or taking us out on junkets, they’ll still be able to attend our fundraisers – and that’s access the average American doesn’t have.”
“In our democracy, the price of access and influence should be nothing more than your voice and your vote. That should be enough for health care reform. That should be enough for a real energy policy. That should be enough to ensure that our government is still the defender of fairness and opportunity for every American.”
“It’s time to show the American people that we have the courage to change the prevailing culture in this city. It’s time to give people confidence in their government again. And we have the chance to start doing that with this bill. So I proudly support this legislation.”
More Information Can be found at Obama in 08: Senator of Illinois
