March 15, 2012

Is your member of Congress serving you, or serving himself? Many lawmakers, when they approach retirement, begin negotiating with lobbying firms to receive multimillion dollar salaries after they leave office. In some cases, a Senator or Representative will slip language into a bill or write an earmark that benefits a special interest, and when they leave Congress, a big paycheck is waiting for them from the very same company.

While the process of public officials going to work for lobbying firms is often called the “revolving door,” we think this issue deserves more emphasis and urgency. With members of Congress secretly manipulating the laws we must all live under, and then receiving lavish rewards, so they can live lavish lifestyles, we call that Backdoor Bribery.

Yesterday, we published a report detailing the problem, and revealed that the lawmakers-turned-lobbyists we profiled received up to a 1,452 percent raise on average. Congressman Billy Tauzin (R-LA), for instance, made $158,100 as a lawmaker his last year in office. He went on to make nearly $20 million the next few years as a drug company lobbyist — after he wrote the law in Congress that prevents Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices for seniors (a rule that costs taxpayers billions). And Backdoor Bribery occurs on both sides of the aisle. It was reported earlier this year that Congressman Bill Delahunt (D-MA) earmarked hundreds of thousands of dollars in special projects before retiring, then began a lobbying job that counts his earmark recipients as clients.

Members of Congress owe their loyalty to the people they represent, not to big companies offering them future riches. We need to stand up against this abuse of our democracy.

Today, the editors of Republic Report are sending a letter to the 36 members of Congress who have already announced they are retiring this year, asking them to at a minimum disclose to the public if they are currently negotiating with a private interest for a future job. They should make such discussions available on their congressional website, if they are still writing the laws we live under. Take a look at a sample copy of our letter:

[scribd id=85401356 key=key-1nbkzr5fgw9ky83g0d7w mode=list]

Are current members of Congress already engaging in Backdoor Bribery? If you have a tip, let us know at [email protected]

Update: Republic Report’s David Halperin explains the existing ethics rules and why were are asking for better disclosure here.

Update 2: Congressman Dale Kildee (D-MI) responded to our campaign; Congresswoman Jean Schmidt (R-OH) refused to address the issue, won’t comment on if she is negotiating to become a lobbyist. Watch the video here; Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC) endorsed our idea — see the video here.

Click more to for a list of the retiring lawmakers and their response to our letter:



SENATE:

Joe Lieberman (I)

706 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-4041

STATUS: Lieberman’s office has rejected our request. His spokesperson told us: “In response to the request of publishing the Senator’s future plan on our website; we have no plans to do so at the moment, as the Senator is not yet in negotiations for his next career move. He has however, stated publicly on numerous occasions that he will not enter into the lobbying industry.” Notably, Lieberman was honored recently by “hundreds” of corporate lobbyists, and hinted that he admired their profession.

Ben Nelson (D)

720 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-6551

STATUS: Senator Nelson formally declined to sign our letter.

Daniel Akaka (D)

141 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-6361

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Jeff Bingaman (D)

703 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-5521

STATUS: Letter sent. Senator Bingaman’s office told Republic Report that they will get back to us soon.

Kent Conrad (D)

530 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-2043

STATUS: Letter sent. Senator Conrad’s press secretary says the office will get back with Republic Report soon.

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R)

284 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-5922

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Herb Kohl (D)

330 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-5653

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Jon Kyl (R)

730 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-4521

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Olympia Snowe (R)

154 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-5344

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Jim Webb (D)

248 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-4024

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

HOUSE:

Dale Kildee (D)

2107 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-3611

STATUS: Kildee’s staff received the letter and discussed it with the chief of staff. The congressman later told Republic Report that our request for transparent job negotiations should be the law, and that he would disclose his plans with anyone who asks. See the video here.

Jean Schmidt (R)

2464 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-3164

STATUS: Letter sent, no response. Republic Report caught up with Congresswoman Schmidt on Capitol Hill. The congresswoman refused to say if she will become a lobbyist, and had no comment on posting information about her future job negotiations. Watch the video here.

Brad Miller (D)

1127 Longworth House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-3032

STATUS: Letter sent. Republic Report spoke with Congressman Miller about the campaign, and he quickly endorsed the idea, telling us that although he does not plan to become a lobbyist, he will disclose any negotiations with lobbying firms on his website if he changes his mind. Miller explained that he requires his staff to disclose such negotiations to him privately, so he should be held to the same standard. Watch our interview here.

Jerry Lewis (R)

2112 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5861

STATUS: Lewis’ office rejected our request. His spokesperson responded with a defiant tone: “At this point he’s really not discussing that…. He is not publicly discussing that.” Notably, Lewis’s aides have publicly advertised that their boss is seeking a job on K Street. Lewis remains a powerful player on the House Appropriations Committee, a seat that gives him wide leverage to distribute pork to special interests.

Heath Shuler (D)

229 Cannon House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-6401

STATUS: Letter sent, no response. As we’ve reported, Shuler is already negotiating to become a lobbyist, even as he positions himself to set major tax policy this year.

Barney Frank (D)

2252 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5931

STATUS: Frank has refused our request. Speaking to Republic Report’s Zaid Jilani, Frank compared our request for simple disclosure to Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge. Although Frank says he has no plans to become an influence peddler, DC publications are buzzing that Wall Street lobbying groups are heavily recruiting the Massachusetts lawmaker to become a lobbyist next year.

Steve Austria (R)

439 Cannon House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-4324

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Dan Boren (D)

2447 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-2701

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Dan Burton (R)

2308 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-2276

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Dennis Cardoza (D)

2437 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-6131

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Jerry Costello (D)

2408 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5661

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Geoff Davis (R)

1119 Longworth House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-3465

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Norm Dicks (D)

2467 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5916

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

David Dreier (R)

233 Cannon House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-2305

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Elton Gallegly (R)

2309 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5811

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Charlie Gonzalez (D)

1436 Longworth House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-3236

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Wally Herger (R)

242 Cannon House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-3076

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Maurice Hinchey (D)

2431 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-6335

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Sue Myrick (R)

230 Cannon House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-1976

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

John Olver (D)

1111 Longworth House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5335

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Todd Platts (R)

2455 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5836

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Mike Ross (D)

2436 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-3772

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Lynn Woolsey (D)

2263 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5161

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Dennis Kucinich (D)

2445 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5871

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Gary Ackerman (D)

2211 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-2601

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.

Don Manzullo (R)

2228 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20510

(202) 225-5676

STATUS: Letter sent, no response.