Talk to Power: Senator Cochran on Lobbying Reform
Talk to Power continued…
Talk to Power host Judy Woodruff interviewed Senator Thad Cochran in November of 2007 in response to hundreds of questions and comments from Yahoo readers. Several topics were addressed. Today, the topic we are featuring is Senator Cochran’s view on Lobbying Reform. Click here to read the previous topic, “The State of Education.”
Lobbying Reform
MS. WOODRUFF: And, Senator, a final question. This reader writes: “Senator Cochran - I am a registered Republican and a conservative of the Newt Gingrich house. I believe my party has lost its direction as indicated by the blue dog vote going to the Democratic Party in the off year. I believe many things have helped sway the vote. Among the one I am most concerned about is the influence peddling that continues to this day in the House and Senate. When are we as citizens of the U.S. going to see constructive reform and an end to lobbies giving both the House and Senate money and perks to influence your votes on bills?”
SEN. COCHRAN: Well, I think we’re making some progress in this area too, particularly with disclosure. You know, when I was first elected, it was the first year, in 1972, when I was elected to Congress, you had to report contributions. There were limits on contributions that could be received in dollar amounts from individuals and also from political action committees or organizations, who were, who were organized to try to be an influence in communicating with elected representatives in Congress.
This was something brand new, and it has been refined, it has been improved, it has, I think, evolved to the point now where if you want to know who’s supporting a candidate, you can get a copy of a financial disclosure report that’ll tell you where the money’s coming from and who’s getting it, who they are. These are all - there are no secret, under-the-table contributions. If they are, they’re against the law, and you’ll get caught and get sent to jail.
And you know, one thing is it’s those cases that get the most publicity. All the people that obeyed every law and every rule, filed every report, honestly disclosed everything, don’t get written up. Hello? Isn’t that something? And 99 percent of the people here in Congress, or bigger than that maybe, obey the law and have followed every rule, and you hear about the handful who haven’t, and that’s the way it is. That’s why you publicize it, to remind everybody, if you don’t obey the law, you’re going to go to jail or you’re going to be publicly embarrassed or the voters will find out that you’re a crook or close to it, and they’ll choose somebody else. I think our system works pretty well.
MS. WOODRUFF: That’s a good note to end on. Senator Cochran, thank you very much on behalf of Talk to Power at Yahoo and at the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. We thank you very much for doing this. We appreciate it.
SEN. COCHRAN: Thank you.
Next: DEFINING VICTORY IN IRAQ and BRINGING THE TROOPS HOME, so stay tuned!
Click here to see video footage of Senator Cochran’s response. Also, click here to see the full article on Yahoo News!
Tags: judy woodruff, lobbying, Lobbying Reform, Senator Cochran, talk to power
