Chris Murphy skips lobby vote

At a May 16 news conference, U.S. Representative Chris Murphy, at podium, vowed to clean up Congress. In just under a week, he twice failed to make those reforms, and is under fire for links to a controversial lobbyist.

U.S. Representative Chris Murphy, D-CT, who has made reforming Congress a centerpiece of his first five months in office, missed a chance to do just that when he was AWOL from a House vote to toughen rules on lobbyists.

When the House of Representatives voted May 24 to approve the “Lobbying Transparency Act,” Murphy was one of eight Democrat members, and the only freshman, who did not cast a vote on the legislation. Murphy did vote on a motion by Republican lawmakers less than ten minutes prior, and on another measure later in the afternoon, making his absence all the more bizarre.

Under the legislation, approved by a wide bipartisan margin, lobbyists who “bundle” campaign donations from clients and other sources would be required to meet new reporting and disclosure guidelines. The bill requires any lobbyist collecting two or more checks on behalf of a Member of Congress totaling $5,000 or more per quarter, or $40,000 per election cycle, to file quarterly reports with the House and Senate clerks.

Murphy’s absence marks the second time in as many weeks that he failed to make Congressional reforms when given the opportunity.

On May 22, Murphy refused to break ranks with Democrat leadership on whether the House should consider if U.S. Representative Jack Murtha, D-PA, violated House rules when he reportedly threatened a Republican colleague. The day before Murtha made that threat, Murphy and other Democrat freshmen held a news conference vowing tougher ethics enforcement.

Despite lamenting that “people are tired of the scandalous headlines coming out of Washington,” Murphy would not even allow the House to move forward with a debate on whether Murtha had, in fact, violated ethics rules.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-OR, cited his fellow Democrats’ hypocrisy when he voted with Republicans to consider a reprimand of Murtha.

“If (former Republican House leader) Tom DeLay had been accused of threatening a Democrat on the House floor," Blumenauer told the Associated Press, “I would expect the same.”

Later, Murhpy provided an explanation for his refusal to enforce House rules when he told the Associated Press that “it’s human nature to shy away from confrontation with the people you work with.”

Murphy received $2,000 from Murtha during his 2006 campaign.

Murphy and his freshmen colleagues are also under fire for “ethics watchdogs and Republicans are calling a contradiction of their promise to end a ‘culture of corruption’ in Washington.”

In a story first reported by MajorityAP.com in April, the Washington Times detailed new criticism leveled at the freshmen class for tapping two longtime lobbyists to run their political action committee (PAC), the Democratic Freshmen PAC.

“The custodian of the Democratic Freshmen PAC is William C. Oldaker, 65, whose most-recent lobbying clients include the oil industry, the tobacco lobby, pharmaceutical industries and American Indian gambling interests,” the Times noted. “Mr. Oldaker also has been removed from several Democratic PACs over conflict-of-interest concerns.”