Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170122
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Voting 422-6, the chamber adopted a rule that bars members and their aides from accepting anything from sports tickets and vacations to fruit baskets and free meals.
Lawmakers still would be allowed to receive expense-paid travel to make speeches, participate in meetings or engage in fact-finding, and to have spouses or children accompany them.
The rule is designed to end the widely criticized practice of House members participating in charity golf, tennis and ski events. Critics call them thinly veiled free vacations.
``The simplest, the cleanest and the clearest standard was to say, `No gifts,''' said Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., who proposed the change.
There is an exemption for gifts from personal friends and family members. Any gift given under the personal friendship exemption that is worth more than $250 must be approved by the ethics committee.
The new rule leaves the House with tougher standards than the Senate, which tightened its own rules in July. Senate rules limit gifts from lobbyists and favor-seekers to those worth no more than $50, with gifts from a single source aggregating no more than $100 a year. Gifts under $10 don't count.
Earlier, the House had voted 276-154 to reject a watered-down rule that would have let lawmakers accept gifts worth up to $250 and allow them to attend tennis, golf and ski outings, as long as they disclosed the gifts. Critics said the measure, offered by Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., would have essentially preserved the current system, which they said invites abuses.
Reform advocates said a drumbeat of media reports about lawmakers vacationing in sunny resorts with lobbyists or accepting theater and sports tickets or fancy meals has added to public distrust.
``Restoring the public's faith in this institution has to be an absolute top priority,'' said Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla. ``If the people ... don't believe in us, they are not going to believe in the decisions we make.''
by CNB