Executive Summary of the Report

Over the past year, the issue of Congressional ethics has taken on new resonance. Where questionable conduct was once shrugged off as "business as usual," now both the public and the press are demanding greater accountability from Members of Congress. At a time when a recent Gallup Poll reports only that 36% of those polled express approval of Congress, people are taking a harder look at the actions of their representatives.

The ethics issues surrounding House Majority Leader Tom DeLay are well documented and frequently reported. In fact, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has been one of Rep. DeLay's harshest critics. Nonetheless, we recognize that Rep. DeLay is not the only Member of Congress whose behavior merits scrutiny. There are a significant number of other members who have engaged in similarly egregious conduct, thus the name of the report: Beyond DeLay.

In the following report, CREW documents the unethical activities of thirteen Members of Congress: 10 House Members and three Senators. Although much of the information is available in a variety of documents, until now it has not been compiled in one place. The allegations against some of those on the list have been well publicized while the activities of others have gone relatively unnoticed.

This is not intended to be a definitive list of all of the Members of Congress facing ethics issues. For example, other members, such as Senator David Vitter (R-LA), Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), have connections to now-indicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff that are worth exploring should either the Senate Select Committee on Ethics or the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct ever decide to initiate an investigation into the range of Mr. Abramoff's influence on the Congress.

CREW has a dual goal in releasing this report. First, we hope to bring greater attention to the unethical conduct of those named in the report as well as to the subject of congressional ethics in general. Second, we hope to galvanize both the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics into action. The ethics committees of both houses have lain largely dormant over the past years despite the often appalling conduct of their members. It is time for our representatives to take their constitutional obligation to police themselves seriously, an obligation that members of both political parties have ignored to the detriment of the American people.

Methodology

To create this report, CREW reviewed articles, Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports and audits, sworn testimony, emails, and personal financial and travel disclosure forms. We then analyzed that information to determine whether the information discovered suggested that a Member of Congress's conduct violated any federal laws, regulations or congressional ethics rules.

source:
http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/09/17/the-13-most-corrupt-members-of-congress/?url="">

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[is-lam] America Corruption : The 13 most corrupt members of Congress

Executive Summary of the Report

Methodology

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