Wave of Corruption Fails to Move Congress to Act on Ethics Legislation

The committee is starting its inquiries so late in the legislative year that Brand, a former House counsel, predicts the panel will not have time to complete its deliberations before a new Congress convenes in 2007. Therefore, the committee's bold assertion that it has risen from the dead sounds more like a public relations gimmick than a real effort to do something meaningful about official misconduct.

Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a nonpartisan watchdog group, calls the House committee's plans "a total cop-out." He said, "Simply opening these investigations doesn't get the committee off the hook. There are a number of serious matters it is not looking at in the Abramoff scandal."

The few actions that lawmakers are intending to take don't amount to much, lobbyists agree. A prominent Democratic lobbyist pulled me aside the other day to say that unless Congress deprives itself of chartered jet service for which members pay only first-class-ticket rates, then the ethics exercise is nothing but a farce.

Neither the House nor the Senate bill would end the private jet benefit. Nor would either bill ban privately funded travel (as House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert proposed in January). Nor would they create a new and improved enforcement regimen, which even the mildest reformers thought was fundamental.

The bills would, on the other hand, expand the frequency of disclosure by lobbyists and require that they report a few more items than they already do, such as campaign donations. But even defenders of the legislation call that a minimal improvement. Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), one of the architects of the House-passed measure, said he would like to "pursue more reform" after the current legislation passes.

And when will that be? If more indictments come down and the public begins to revolt noticeably against incumbents over the issue, maybe Congress will bestir itself to act more quickly and aggressively.

But my guess is that incumbents won't feel the wrath of voters until Election Day, and regret their inaction too late.

Officer's Case to Be Reheard

In March, I wrote about a federal appeals court decision involving a D.C. police officer that could well make it harder for prosecutors to convict lawmakers implicated in the Abramoff lobbying scandal, among other similar cases. In an opinion dated Feb. 24, a three-judge panel ruled that Nelson Valdes could not be convicted of accepting illegal gratuities because the activity for which he took money -- running license plates through a database -- was not a formal part of his job.

Well, never mind. On May 15, a majority of the same appeals court vacated that decision and agreed that the entire court should rehear the case. A date has not yet been set but prosecutors and defense attorneys will surely be watching this one closely.

Jeffrey Birnbaum writes about the intersection of government and business every other Monday. His e-mail address iskstreetconfidential@washpost.com. He will be online to discuss lobbying, lawmaking and the ethics bill at noon tomorrow athttp://www.washingtonpost.com.