Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Sen. Frank Lautenberg
Lawmakers in Congress are big believers in doing unto others as they would not do unto themselves, when it comes to financial conflicts of interest. While representatives and senators are happy to pass laws forbidding federal officials from having personal stakes in their work, many members of the House and Senate routinely vote on matters that directly affect their investment portfolios.
One example found by The Washington Post was Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas), who has long pontificated on the merits of basing currencies on gold. Paul also sits on a subcommittee overseeing monetary policy, mints and gold medals—while owning $1.5 million in shares of at least nine businesses involved in gold production.
Another House example is Democrat Jane Harman of California, who served as chair of a subcommittee covering “technology-oriented efforts to improve homeland security, intelligence, information sharing and risk assessment in 2008,” according to The Washington Post. This while investing more than $1 million in companies, such as Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems, which have intelligence and homeland security contracts.
In the Senate, Democrat Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey has chaired a subcommittee examining water quality while owning a $1 million investment in Linn Energy, which has been accused of water pollution violations.
“We have no problem making strict rules for others, but we have a difficult time doing it for ourselves,” Representative Brian Baird (D-Washington) told the Post.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Lawmakers' Committee Assignments and Industry Investments Overlap (by Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Dan Keating, Washington Post)
Investment Disclosure Rules for Congress Are Permissive, Confusing (by Kimberly Kindy and Dan T. Keating, Washington Post)
Congressional Stock Holdings (Washington Post)
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