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Our view: Bilbray off to a good start on ethics reform, but more effort needed
When the Democrats took control of Congress in November, they proclaimed ethics reform one of their top priorities. It was voters' revulsion at scandals involving Republicans ---- most famously, our own Randy "Duke" Cunningham ---- that helped them take over, after all.
As the man who replaced Cunningham, Rep. Brian Bilbray has a special responsibility to redeem the 50th Congressional District. So far, he's quietly worked toward that goal, but more work remains, and Bilbray may need to raise his voice on the issue.
Bilbray voted for a number of the ethics reforms passed by Democrats in January, such as tightening the rules on gifts and trips. He also supported legislation that would more tightly regulate the relationship between members of Congress, their staffs and lobbyists. One measure would end the practice of lobbyists "bundling" campaign checks from numerous contributors, a practice that increases these lobbyists' leverage.
Of course, the issue that got Cunningham in trouble, and one that gets the most attention, is earmarks, or the practice of placing special projects on spending bills without much scrutiny. To his credit, Bilbray has disclosed all of his earmark requests, but citing other elements that he couldn't support, voted against legislation to make such disclosures mandatory. Instead, he offered his own bill (HR 1733) to the same end.
But such disclosure, while necessary, isn't where reform should stop. Both sides are still arguing about exactly when earmarks should be disclosed and whether to create an independent ethics panel .
Bilbray is off to a good start, but the circumstances by which his seat became open demand that he make the cause his own. We hope that he applies some of the considerable passion he displays in the important debate over immigration reform on ethics reform, which needs a champion from these parts.
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