AP: House, Senate Divide Stalls Ethics Bill

[Eugene]

House, Senate Divide Stalls Ethics Bill

By JIM ABRAMS
The Associated Press
Tuesday, September 12, 2006; 1:26 PM

WASHINGTON -- Unable to agree on sweeping ethics legislation, the House this week
will try to pass a narrower bill to shed light on pet projects that lawmakers tuck
into spending and tax bills.

The measure on "earmarks," a rules change that would apply only to the House, is a
small part of comprehensive lobbying and ethics legislation that the House and Senate
both passed last spring in the wake of a spate of scandals involving lawmakers and
lobbyists.

But the two chambers have been unable to find common ground, and prospects for
legislation that was deemed a top priority when this session of Congress convened last
January are not good.

-snip-

Republicans on the Appropriations Committee, which puts together annual spending bills,
have objected to being singled out for earmark reform and demand that any new rule also
apply to tax and authorization bills.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091200824.html