Wash. Times Supports S. 482

by

The Washington Times editorialized in favor of S. 482, the Senate e-filing bill, in today’s paper. Below is a section from the editorial. Don’t forget to help us pass S. 482 by going to the Pass 482 site and calling your senators to get their support:

Sen. Russell Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat, has once again reintroduced legislation requiring electronic fillings by senators. Such efforts over the last six years have never reached the Senate floor. The bill has 32 co-sponsors, including conservative Thad Cochran, Mississippi Republican. This is not a partisan or ideological issue. But John Ensign, Nevada Republican, has led the strongest public effort in recent years to kill the move by insisting on the addition of a poison pill amendment requiring groups filing ethics complaints against senators to disclose their donors. While a worthwhile effort, Mr. Ensign’s amendment is best left to other legislation. A similar effort is said to be contemplated by Pat Roberts, Kansas Republican, in this session.

The Senate moves slowly, a fact inherent in the deliberative nature of its design and further enhanced by the body’s rules. But that does not mean those same rules should be used to avoid inconvenient scrutiny.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is said to be looking to bring the measure to the floor without additions, an unlikely event. In the absence of that move, Mr. Reid should put senators on the record with a vote. If senators from either party have any honest interest in being good stewards of the public trust, they will not continue accepting efforts to protect themselves from timely public attention.