For Immediate Release: January 10, 2006
Contact: Ned Wigglesworth

TheRestofUs.org Calls For Disclosure From House Leadership Candidates

Blunt, Boehner, Cantor, Tiahrt, and Rogers Should Disclose Daily All Contributions to Other Representatives, All Incoming Contributions

Campaign watchdog TheRestofUs.org called on all candidates for House Majority Leader to disclose all contributions received and made during the run-up to House Leadership elections.

"The practice of buying influence and favors in Washington hasn't been limited to accepting campaign contributions from outside groups and individuals," said Derek Cressman, director of TheRestofUs.org. "Members of Congress have played much the same game as Jack Abramoff, using their so-called leadership PACs to make campaign contributions to their colleagues in order to obtain leadership votes, backing, or chits for the future. We call on candidates for House leadership positions to disclose daily all campaign account and PAC activity during the first two months of 2006."

Current law requires candidate committees to file quarterly, while most political action committees file monthly disclosure statements. The PACs of the two primary candidates for House Majority Leader, Roy Blunt and John Boehner, both file monthly. These committees won't file statements covering the month of January until February 20, well after leadership elections are scheduled to occur. The committees won't file statements covering the month of February until March 20.

Through the first 11 months of 2005, Blunt's Rely on Your Beliefs Fund made $448,572 in contributions to other candidates and committees. Boehner's The Freedom Project PAC contributed $337,529 to other candidates and committees.

"This isn't just an internal election - the whole country is watching to see what direction the Republicans Party will choose in the aftermath of these scandals," said Cressman. "After the past year of corruption, Americans could use some confidence in their elected representatives in Congress."

Leadership PACs have long played a major role in winning congressional leadership positions, although Tom DeLay took the practice of doling out contributions from his leadership PAC to a new level in 1994 when he defeated Pennsylvania representative Robert Walker in elections for House Majority Whip by spreading around hundreds of thousands of dollars from his ARMPAC.

These PACs have also played a role in each scandal to hit the nation's capitol in the last year. Rep. Tom DeLay's TRMPAC is at the center of his indictment in Texas. Much of the money directed by Jack Abramoff to members of Congress went to their leadership PACs. Former Congressman Duke Cunningham's alleged co-conspirators directed much of their contributions to leadership PACs.

"Efforts by House Republicans to rebrand themselves a party of ethics and reform will fall flat without real action," said Ned Wigglesworth, analyst for TheRestofUs.org. "If Republicans really want to clean up their dirty image, they should come clean about the money changing hands in the run-up to leadership elections. The question for these men is simple: do they want to be the next Tom DeLay, or do they think the American public wants and deserves a new approach?"

Specifically, TheRestofUs.org called on all candidates for House leadership positions to disclose the following for the period extending from January 1, 2006 until two weeks after the leadership elections take place:

1) all contributions made or promised to any House Representative from the leadership candidate's PAC, candidate committee, or them personally;
2) all contributions received by the candidate committee or leadership PAC of any leadership candidate; and
3) all contributions solicited by leadership candidates on behalf of other members of Congress.

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TheRestofUs.org is a nonpartisan watchdog of the role of money in politics.