[Iran Press TV] A recent report shows that members of Congress have held fundraisers on numerous occasions to collect cash during the same period they were drafting new laws.The Washington Post reported on Sunday that several incidents where the timing of congress's drafting of new laws conveniently coincided with fundraisings and cash collections from wealthy lobbyists -- who often have great interests in the new laws.
In one incident, the members of a joint House and Senate committee worked on the final rules for regulating the financial industry in June 2008 for three weeks. During the same three weeks, the 35 members of the drafting committee collected USD 440,000 in donations from the same industry, which was heavily lobbying for looser rules and regulations.
Members of Congress claim the donations close to key votes are often coincidental.
Earlier this month, Democratic Senator Max Baucus of Montana, who is the chairman of the Senate committee overseeing tax policy, threw himself a birthday party/fundraising event on the same day that the chamber held its first vote on an 858-billion-dollar tax package that would provide breaks to wealthy Americans and corporations. The invitation to Baucus' event solicited money from lobbyists and executives that have great interests in the tax package.
Baucus' office stressed that the senator's votes could not be bought regardless of the fundraisers timing.
"Money has no influence on how Senator Baucus makes his decisions," his office claimed. "The only factor that determines Senator Baucus's votes is whether a policy is right for Montana and right for our country," Baucus spokeswoman Kate Downen said.
A congressional investigative office, the Center for Responsive Politics and the Sunlight Foundation, warned this summer that such last-minute fundraisers could violate ethics rules.
"It makes people wonder: Is the donor making the donation because they are trying to get a particular legislative action? Or is the member soliciting the donation because they feel they have a whole bunch of special interests over a barrel at that moment and can profit from that?" the Washington Post quoted a front man for the Center for Responsive Politics, David Levinthal as saying.
The Office of Congressional Ethics reported this summer that eight members of congress were under investigation over the issue of the timing of donations.
The members had solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in donation last December from financial institutions just before a critical House vote on new regulations for Wall Street.