Senate Proceeding on Aug 2nd, 2007 :: 1:27:32 to 1:39:27
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1:27:24 to 1:27:32( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: with the demint amendment, much stronger than the original bipartisan leadership proposal that was introduced in january and an enormous improvement over the way earmarks have been handled by both democrat

1:27:32 to 1:27:42( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: and republican- republican-controlled congresses in the past. it is simply not accurate to say that the final version of this provision guts the demint amendment that the senate passed earlier this yeempl

1:27:32 to 1:39:27( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jim DeMint

1:27:42 to 1:27:54( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: the minor changes that were made certainly do not justify a vote against cloture or against the bill. mr. president, the difference between the approach to lobbying in ethics reform this year and

1:27:54 to 1:28:07( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: last year is this: last year there was a lot of tough talk but when it came down to it the goal was to try to satisfy public outrage but actually do as little as possible. this year the tough talk

1:28:07 to 1:28:19( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: was backed up by tough action. this bill includes real reform on things like gifts and earmarks that get a lot of public aengs attention and also on things like secret holds and corporate jelts that occur

1:28:19 to 1:28:31( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: most mostly behind the scenes but actually have a big impact on how things work in washington. i want to especially thank majority leader reid for his steadfast insistence on passing strong legislation.

1:28:31 to 1:28:45( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: this is a great accomplishment for him. it is a great aplighter accomplishment for the senate and i am extremely pleased that it is getting don in a tamely manner. i want to thank my colleagues

1:28:45 to 1:29:01( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: for recognize ing that regardless of how reforms might impact us, our priority must be to convince our constituents that we are here to advocate their best interests, not those of well- well-connected

1:29:01 to 1:29:15( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: lobbyists. ethical conduct in government should be more than an aspiration. it should be a rirls requirement. this is what this bill is all about. i am proud to support it and i urge my colleagues

1:29:15 to 1:29:27( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: to vote "yea "yie" on cloture and on final passage of the bill. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor yield the floor. r. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. feinstein:

1:29:27 to 1:29:40( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: mr. president, if you would just allow me to thank the senator from which is wisconsin wisconsin. he has been an energetic, enthusiastic add vote car for -- advocate for this for a very long time. and,

1:29:40 to 1:29:53( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: you know, he's not always hard to please. so i want particularly to say thank you to him. mr. demint: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator south carolina. mint mint i see we have 30

1:29:53 to 1:30:04( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: minutes before the vote -- mr. demint: i see we have 30 minutes before the vote. i was offered ten. i had i'd like to have 15 minutes to complete my remarks, i ask unanimous consent. the presiding officer:

1:30:04 to 1:30:22( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: is there objection? without objection. mr. demint: thank you, mr. president. i rise to voice my opposition to the pretense of earmark reform that is included in this so- so-called ethics bill and to

1:30:22 to 1:30:36( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: urge my colleagues to vote "no" on cloture this morning so we can restore the earmark transparency rules that we all vote ed on in january. if, as the majority contends, that the differences between

1:30:36 to 1:30:48( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: that bill and the one we bring to the floor today are minor, there should be no objection to making those rules the same. mr. president, americans know hoich how much congress loves earmarks earmarks.

1:30:48 to 1:31:03( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: these are the special interest spending items that fill most of our bills. americans also know that these earmarks are at the center of most of the waste and corruption here in washington, d.c.,. they

1:31:03 to 1:31:21( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: know that money in the form of earmarks are the easiest favor a lawmaker can deliver to a special interest. they know that the explosion of earmarks in the last decade has turned congress into a giant

1:31:21 to 1:31:33( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: favor factory that turns out favors for special interests, not for the american people. the associated press ran a fascinating article this morning entitled "earmarks prove popular and dangerous." the

1:31:33 to 1:31:50( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: article talks about how earmarks have been at the center of corruption in this town yet members of congress continue to embrace earmarks and will do whatever it takes to keep them in the shadows away from

1:31:50 to 1:32:03( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: public scrutiny. the article says -- and i quote -- "even the imprisonment of lobbyist jack abramoff and former representative "duke" cunningham on corruption charges that included earmark abuses has not dulled

1:32:03 to 1:32:18( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: lawmakers' appetite for pet projects. one recent study found that earmarks in house legislation went fro from 3,000 in 1996 to 15 15,000 in 2005.~the article highlights that earmark disclosure is

1:32:18 to 1:32:34( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: at the center of the debate on the so-called ethics bill before us today, and it concludes by predicting that there will not be enough senators vote ing today to restore true earmark reform in

1:32:34 to 1:32:46( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: this bill. that may be true, but i hope it's not the case. this bill, as it's currently written, is a fraud. it is business as usual dressed up like ethics reform, and it's a stunning disappointment

1:32:46 to 1:32:55( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: and a huge missed opportunity. it completely guts earmark rules we all agree ed to back in january and allows us to continue to add secret earmarks to our bills. even worse, it allows members

1:32:55 to 1:33:12( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: of this body to steer millions of tax dollars to themselves and their families, yet the bill has the title of ethics reform. so the money -- so many are going to support it so that they can have

1:33:12 to 1:33:32( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: a sound bite during their election. this is not really a big surprise. even though the democrat leadership campaigned on cleani up the culture of corruption in washington, it has never been committed

1:33:32 to 1:33:52( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: to cleaning up the culture of earmarks. the first version of this bill which came to the floor in january was so inadequate in how it dealt with earmarks that it only covered 5% of all the earmarks.

1:33:52 to 1:34:08( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: the authors of this bill thought that they could get away with saying that they were providing earmark transparency without actually doing it. fortunately, after a lot of public pressure was applied, we

1:34:08 to 1:34:21( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: were able to come together in a bipartisan way to fix this problem and bring every earmark out into the light of day. the rule that we all agreed to, not not only disclosed all earmarks, but it also

1:34:21 to 1:34:37( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: gave every senator the ability to hold the committees accountable if the american people do not get the transparency they deserve. i thought the democrat leadership had reazed the importance of these

1:34:37 to 1:34:54( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: reforms, so when the appropriations seaso began and earmarks started to be added to our bills, i sought consent from my colleagues to formally enact these rules so we could be true to our word and

1:34:54 to 1:35:05( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: ensure honest full earmark disclosure. but as my colleagues know, the democrat leadership objected to real earmark reform. in fact, they objected on march march 29, april 17, june 28, july 9, and

1:35:05 to 1:35:15( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: july 17, five times in over what has been over 196 days since these earmarks rules were passed in january. when it comes to true earmark re reform, we have heard nothing but excuses and seen nothing but

1:35:15 to 1:35:26( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: obstruction. mr. president, the majority leader wanted to take this bill to conference with the house back in june so he could kill earmark reform behind closed doors and share the blame with republicans.

1:35:26 to 1:35:44( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: i asked him if he would pledge to preserve earmark rules that we all agreed to, but he said that he could not give me that assurance. he left me no choice but to object to conference ing this bill with

1:35:44 to 1:35:58( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: the house. now the rule is back before us. it has been rewritten in secret by the majority leader and the speaker of the house, and they did exactly what i was afraid of of. they killed earmark reform.

1:35:58 to 1:36:09( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: only this time, they cannot blame this on anyone but themselves. for some reason, the democrat leadership does not understand the importance of this issue. they talk a lot about the culture of corruption,

1:36:09 to 1:36:20( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: but when it comes to reining in the most corrupting practice in washington, which is earmarking, they only offer lip service. my colleagues should remember that it was the practice of trade ing

1:36:20 to 1:36:33( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: earmarks for bribes that has been at the heart of the corruption scandals here in washington. let me say that again because it's very important. we had and still have a process in place that allows

1:36:33 to 1:36:44( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: members of this body to trade the public trust for personal gain. former congressman duke cunningham was the master at this. he knew that the oversight of his activities was so lax that he kept his

1:36:44 to 1:36:53( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: own earmark bribe menu. he knew the house and the senate were not going to police its colleagues and that the earmark process would give him the ability to steer millions of dollars to his friends

1:36:53 to 1:37:05( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: who were bribe ing him. the document that charged duke cunningham outlined very clearly what he was doing, and i quote -- "under the very seal of the united states congress, cunningham placed this

1:37:05 to 1:37:13( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: nation's governance up for sale to a defense contractor. detailing the amount of bribes necessary to obtain varyying -- varying levels of defense appropriations or earmarks. in this bribe menu, the left

1:37:13 to 1:37:26( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: column represented the millions in government contracts that could be ordered from cunningham cunningham. the right column was the amount of the bribes that the congressman was demanding in exchange

1:37:26 to 1:37:38( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: for these contracts," end quote. the bill we're considering does nothing to stop the earmark factory. this so-called ethics bill does not actually require the senate to disclose every earmark.

1:37:38 to 1:37:51( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: all it requires is the chairman of the relevant committee or the majority leader to tell us they've disclosed every earmark. it does nothing to guarantee that earmarks are actually disclosed. and it

1:37:51 to 1:38:02( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: is, therefore, unenforce unenforceable. mr. president, the rule we all agreed to in january that put the senate parliamentarian in charge of enforce ing this rule has been changed. the parliamentarian

1:38:02 to 1:38:13( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: is not -- excuse me, is a nonpartisan referee that works for all senators, but this bill puts him on the sidelines. it allows the chairman of the coittee and the majority leader, two of the most

1:38:13 to 1:38:25( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: ardent supporters of earmarks and the two people least likely to object to one of their own bills bills, in charge of enforce ing earmark disclosure. this allows the fox to guard the henhouse and

1:38:25 to 1:38:37( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: it makes a joke of ethics reform. this is clearly a sham, and it's a total shame. it has been confirmed by the senate parliamentarian and the crech congressional research service. a memo prepared by

1:38:37 to 1:38:47( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: c.r.s. states states, and i quote -- "if a point of order is raise ed under the new rule, it appears that the chair presumably would base his or her ruling only on whether or not the certification

1:38:47 to 1:39:27( Edit History Discussion )

Jim DeMint: has been made and not on the content of the available lists or charts, including the accuracy or completeness of this information." mr. president, this has also been confirmed by the senate parliamentarian