Common Cause Blog :: Keep Up Your Phone Calls Asking for Investigation of New DeLay Scandals

Keep Up Your Phone Calls Asking for Investigation of New DeLay Scandals

By Murshed Zaheed
Posted on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 12:01:28 PM EST

We are expanding the lobbying targets of our phone calls to the Capitol Hill demanding full scale investigation into the latest ethics scandals implicating Tom DeLay.

First, if you haven't done it yet, please put in phone calls to the Ethics Committee members urging them to launch investigation into DeLay's latest ethics mess. Since we sent our supporters an email on Tuesday afternoon, these ethics committee members have been feeling the impact of their calls. Keep them up.

We also want everyone to call the offices of the following members who represent the leadership of the majority party. Call their offices and demand them to urge the Ethics Committee to investigate the latest allegations against their colleague who we believe is ethically unfit to serve as the majority leader of the people's house:

Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL): 202-225-2976
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Majority Whip: 202-225-6536
Rep. Eric J. Cantor (R-VA), Deputy Majority Whip: 202-225-2815
Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), Conference Chair: 202-225-2015
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), Conference Vice-Chair: 202-225-583
Rep. John T. Doolitte (R-CA)
Conference Secretary: 202-225-2511
Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ),Policy Chairman: (202) 225-3361
Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY), Chair, National Republican Congressional Committee: 202-225-5265

When you are calling these members representing the Republican leadership in House, please keep in mind that you can call them and lobby them even if you are not in his or her district. The members listed above who make up the Republican leadership are accountable to all Americans, not just the citizens who live in their districts. The same is true for the Ethics Committee members - they may not be your representatives in Congress, but as a citizen concerned about the ethical behavior of current Congress, they are accountable to you.

Let us know how your calls are going.

Here is the email we sent out earlier this afternoon:

Dear Murshed,

We told you Tuesday about new alleged ethics violations raised against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay involving an expensive foreign junket taken by DeLay and his wife and allegedly paid for by a lobbyist, a clear violation of House rules.

But in the last 48 hours another serious allegation has emerged implicating DeLay. This one involves a delegation of Republican House members, including DeLay, accepting an expense-paid trip to South Korea in 2001 from a registered foreign service agent, despite House Rules that bar the acceptance of travel expenses from foreign agents.

The allegations reported this morning by The Washington Post were serious enough to prompt, Jan W. Baran, a highly respected former Republican National Committee lawyer to call the trip “a problem,” and say that this is a situation that will likely trigger an investigation by the Ethics Committee.

We need to keep strenuously lobbying the Ethics Committee members to make sure they launch that investigation. You have already been calling them since Tuesday, when we sent our last e-mail to you about DeLay, and we know that they are feeling the pressure of your calls. Please keep them up.

We also want you to call Republican congressional leadership offices. Please tell them that the Ethics Committee has an obligation to look into the allegations that have been raised, and that as leaders, they must make sure that happens.

Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL): 202-225-2976
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Majority Whip: 202-225-6536
Rep. Eric J. Cantor (R-VA), Deputy Majority Whip: 202-225-2815
Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), Conference Chair: 202-225-2015
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), Conference Vice-Chair: 202-225-5831
Rep. John T. Doolitte (R-CA), Conference Secretary: 202-225-2511
Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), Policy Chairman: (202) 225-3361
Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY), Chair, National Republican Congressional Committee: 202-225-5265

The members listed above who make up the Republican leadership are accountable to all Americans, not just the citizens who live in their districts. The same is true for Ethics Committee members – they may not be your representatives in Congress, but as a citizen concerned about the ethical behavior of Congress, they are accountable to you.

Please forward this email to as many family members, friends, and colleagues as you can by clicking on the link below this email. Let us know how your calls are going by posting on our blog. Make sure to check our blog and our website, as we will keep you updated as there are further developments.

Thank you again for all you do for Common Cause.

Sincerely,

Chellie Pingree
President & CEO, Common Cause

Again please forward this to everyone you know. Thanks!

Tags: Government Accountability (all tags)

Keep Up Your Phone Calls Asking for Investigation of New DeLay Scandals :: 16 Comments

Delay phone calls

made calls to everyone on the list...all recipients were helpful and pleasant.

by Anonymous Citizen on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 01:22:29 PM EST

Rep. Tom DeLay

At the suggestion of Common Cause, rather than telephoning, I e-mailed with the following text to all of the Repuyblican congressional leadership:
"With even more revelations regarding Rep. Tom DeLay's acceptance of travel expenses from foreign agents added onto earlier allegations, it is now imperative that the Ethics Committee properly investigate all aspects of Rep. DeLay's ignoring of House Rules. Otherwise, continued acceptance of this fellow Congressman's behavior can only be construed as Republican corruption."

by Anonymous Citizen on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 03:01:43 PM EST

Ethics Committee - Tom Delay

I called ALL the names on the list and was told that my message would be passed on.

by Anonymous Citizen on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 03:13:59 PM EST

Re: Ethics Committee - Tom Delay

I, too, made all the calls. However, the vice-chair's office said he HAD NO SAY in the matter! All others were co-operative.

by Anonymous Citizen on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 04:44:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I Sent Faxes

I composed a letter with CC to each member and simply faxed to all the representative's offices in D.C.. Much easier than trying to get through on the phone.

by shof on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 05:42:05 PM EST

Delay treated for "heart condition"

Ok, now Delay is faking a heart attack, LAME!

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/loca l/11102877.htm

by Anonymous Citizen on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 08:02:29 PM EST

Re: Delay treated for "heart condition"

That's not an appropriate comment. If the man has a heart condition, he has a heart condition.

by Anonymous Citizen on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 09:39:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Delay treated for "heart condition"

He may have a bona fide heart condition but how come it never seemed to cause him trouble til recently? In fact, I didn't think he even had a heart.

by Anonymous Citizen on Fri Mar 11, 2005 at 08:51:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Ethics question....

I'm calling the members of the Ethics Committee with the following question... Why is it that a woman who screws a guy for money at HIS request is jailed, while a Congressman like DeLay can screw taxpayers behind their backs and get away with it? If the Ethics Committee doesn't investigate the charges against DeLay, they better have a good answer to this question.

by Anonymous Citizen on Fri Mar 11, 2005 at 06:10:51 AM EST

Tom Delay's Trips

I made calls to all eight offices. Reached them all. All said they would pass the message on to the Rep.
Sarah Arnold

by Anonymous Citizen on Fri Mar 11, 2005 at 09:18:35 AM EST

Tom Delay's Trips

I reached all eight offices. All took the message and were polite and cordial. Sarah Arnold

by Anonymous Citizen on Fri Mar 11, 2005 at 09:19:31 AM EST

Tom Delay's Trips

I reached all eight offices. All said they would pass on the message to the Representative.
Sarah Arnold

by Anonymous Citizen on Fri Mar 11, 2005 at 09:21:24 AM EST

Contacted offices of 13 Republicans

I phoned or e-mailed all 5 Republican Ethics Committee members, and phoned the offices of the 8 Republican leaders too. In each case, the office staff said they would convey my feelings to the member.

Bob

by bschloss on Fri Mar 11, 2005 at 09:30:44 AM EST

Delay's ethics--or not!!

I called both Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) and Ranking Minority Member Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV). Rep. Hastings office took my comment and Rep. Mollohan added my name to a list of callers that have phoned to request an investigation of DeLay. The Mollohan staffer's amazment that DeLay keeps getting re-elected, mirrored my own amazement and disgust. But money talks and we know DeLay is good at that, even if he doesn't have a clue about the law.

I also called House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's (R-IL) office. They were decidedly uncooperative, claiming it was not the Speakers job, but the ethics committee job to deal with the allegations against Rep. Delay. I argued repeatedly that as the leader of the house Republications, it was his job to make sure all members complied with house policies and that in his position of leadership, he has influence with the Ethics Committee. The staff member finally agreed to pass on my concerns--whether he will is another question.

by Mas on Fri Mar 11, 2005 at 11:50:16 AM EST

Re: Delay's ethics--or not!!

Do you have any information on how many callers had dialed into Mollohan's office from your conversation with his staffers?

by Anonymous Citizen on Fri Mar 11, 2005 at 01:14:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Why just Deay's ethics?

Why is everyone focusing on Delay's ethics only? I saw on GMA that he ranks 28th compared with other Republican and Democrats for questionable trips.

by AXESMI on Sun May 01, 2005 at 01:30:01 PM EST

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Keep Up Your Phone Calls Asking for Investigation of New DeLay Scandals

By Murshed ZaheedPosted on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 12:01:28 PM EST

By Murshed Zaheed
Posted on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 12:01:28 PM EST