http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06060/662712.stmThough Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., charged Sen. Rick Santorum with the task of spearheading Republican efforts to tighten rules on lawmakers' contact with lobbyists, Pennsylvania's junior senator is taking more of a backstage role as that legislation begins moving through the chamber this week.
"What I was asked by the leader to do was to start a process to see if we could get a bipartisan bill," Mr. Santorum said yesterday after the Senate Rule Committee voted 17-0 to approve new restrictions on members. "I understand the game here; I understand that they
don't want Santorum's name on anything that's going to pass. So I'm not worried about getting my name on a bill that's going to pass; I'm worried about making sure we do the right thing from an ethics point of view."
Since January, Mr. Santorum has helped organize more than a half-dozen meetings with Senate colleagues to discuss how Congress could address the public's discomfort with the relationships between lobbyists and members. The outcry came over the actions of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials.
But at this point, Mr. Santorum is not planning to author and try to promote his own lobbying-reform legislation. Senate Rules Committee Chairman Trent Lott credited Mr. Santorum with helping develop the legislation that was unanimously approved by Mr. Lott's committee yesterday. The measure includes more public disclosure of members' travel and meals paid for by lobbyists as well as new restrictions on members' ability to insert their pet spending projects, known as "earmarks," into major bills without sufficient vetting.
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