Dem Support For “Very Small Step” Towards Lobbying Reform

Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.), who was one of eight Democrats to vote for the lobbying reform bill which passed in the House yesterday by four votes, explained his vote in a released statement.

After months of nothing but talk, the House of Representatives has finally taken its first step toward cleaning up the mess in Washington. But this bill is only a very small step in the right direction – not the comprehensive ethics reform we need to pass if Congress ever hopes to regain the people’s trust.

If the folks in charge of Congress are serious about rooting out corruption, we’re going to need to pass a bill that’s a whole lot tougher than this. We need a high-powered pressure washer. But today, all we got was a dusty old broom. No one should be overly optimistic about what this bill will do.

This should be our starting point for the next round of reforms, not an endgame. Even a trip of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and in this case even a small step closer to good government is better than the status quo.