Barney Frank For Congress - Congressional Reform

Frank Speaks Out on Rep. Jefferson Case; Says Congress Shouldn,t Get Special Treatment on Office Searches

Sun, 4 Jun 2006 23:16:59 -0400

Excerpt from May 30, 2006 Interview with Brian Unger on MSNBC,s "Countdown" [FBI Search of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's Office]

UNGER: Any irony here to the fact that many Republicans in the House seem to be just fine with the warrantless wiretapping of average citizens, and yet when it comes to the warranted search of a congressman`s office, not so much?

FRANK: Oh, I would say there is more irony here than in the collected works of George Bernard Shaw.

Here you have a Republican Congress which has been enthusiastic about the disregard of any kind of reasonable strength on law enforcement for almost everybody in the country, and now they overreact when it`s a member of Congress.

To put it very tersely, they have generally, the Republicans in particular, approved of warrantless intrusions into the privacy of average citizens. That is, they`ve said it`s OK to go in and get into what people read in the libraries or what they`ve said on the phone without a warrant.

Barney Frank on Proposal to Eliminate House Floor and Gymnasium Privileges for Former Members Of Congress Who Are Lobbyists

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 13:23:48 -0500

"I am one of those who talks about in Washington a vast right-wing conspiracy. It now seems clear to me that we instead have had a vast right-wing kleptocracy"

The Washington Post, Thursday, February 2, 2006, Editorial entitled "The Real Leadership Test"

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 13:55:04 -0500

"A quartet of Democratic members of Congress -- Reps. David R. Obey (Wis.), Barney Frank (Mass.), David E. Price (N.C.) and Tom Allen (Maine) -- have proposed a thoughtful set of procedural reforms that would curtail the abuses."

Lawmakers Introduce Plan To Take Private Money Out Of Politics

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 16:53:58 -0500

"The legislation we are proposing today would help us move toward getting the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling from the 1970s that effectively bars public financing." 1/25/06

Republicans need to steal David Obey and Barney Frank's lobbying-reform ideas

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 13:56:02 -0500

"Republicans need to steal David Obey and Barney Frank's lobbying-reform ideas..." David Brooks, The New York Times, 01/05/06

14-point reform proposal announced by senior Democratic representatives

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 13:54:13 -0500

"Perhaps no one better personifies the current era of congressional politics than Jack Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist indicted on conspiracy and fraud charges in August. True, Abramoff exhibited unusual creativity in the combinations and permutations of his ethics-bending strategies... But, as a steady stream of indictments and ever-multiplying investigations has demonstrated, Abramoff's sins were exceptional only in degree, not in kind... Some good ideas for cleaning up this mess have now arrived in the form of a 14-point reform proposal announced last week by a quartet of senior Democratic representatives: Dave Obey of Wisconsin, Barney Frank of Massachusetts, David Price of North Carolina, and Tom Allen of Maine."
Editorial, The New Republic, 12/22/05

If the House of Representatives were a person, it would be blushing these days.

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 13:45:21 -0500

"If the House of Representatives were a person, it would be blushing these days. Unfortunately, the House is beyond embarrassment... The place needs a good scrubbing, and that is what it would get if the leadership were somehow to embrace a set of rules changes put forward this week by several longtime members... It is strong medicine -- a stiff enough dose of salts that even a watered-down version would mark a major change in the ethical environment of Capitol Hill. ... something must be done to cleanse the House -- and this points the way." David Broder, The Washington Post , 12/08/05

Congressmen Unveil Reform Package

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 16:54:33 -0500

"This is not simply about parliamentary procedures in the House. Representative democracy is being thwarted by current Republican practice. In particular, they are using their control to allow Republican members to mislead constituents by concealing or misrepresenting their position on important issues." 12/04/05