Ethics reform is on the mind of Minnesota's first female senator elect

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sen.-elect Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said she intends to live by a strict code of ethics during her term as senator and will help lead efforts to enact a "stronger, smarter ethics reform" on the national level.

Klobuchar said she believes ethics reform will be adopted in Washington, D.C. within the first three to four months of 2007. Speaking with Minnesota reporters during a conference call Monday, Klobuchar said people in office are "held captive by special interests," which has resulted in individual scandals by members of Congress and "bad public policy" in areas like energy and health care.

She said the public, through their votes in November, sent the message that scandals have "reduced people's faith in government" and that "serious ethics reform" is needed to restore that faith.

Klobuchar outlined her personal code of ethics that she'll operate under.

She said she will not accept privately funded travel from people "who have business before Congress" and she will not accept gifts or meals from lobbyists, which is currently allowed under the rules.

"I'm going to model our policy more on Minnesota-style ethics reform," she said. "If it's good enough for our state, I don't understand why they can't do it in Washington."

Klobuchar said she will work hard to get funding for Minnesota projects, but said there needs to be reform in how the merits of state projects are debated and funded.

She said Congress' habit of sliding pork-barrel projects into bills late at night without a public debate that has resulted in the "bridge to nowhere" and a teapot museum in North Carolina, has contributed to a 50 percent increase in discretionary, or earmark spending in the last six years. She said if home state projects are legitimate, lawmakers should be willing to "stand by their pork" and let them be "debated in the halls of Congress."

Klobuchar said she and other senators agree that an independent ethics watch dog is needed to provide oversight and investigation of ethics issues. More changes are also needed on the revolving door practice of former lawmakers working as lobbyists.

She said the freshman class of senators is interested in ethics reform. That group, she said, makes up 20 percent of the Democratic Senate caucus.

"We are a force to be reckoned with," she said. "I won't be going on this alone. There are other people that are very interested in getting these changes done right away as well."

Klobuchar briefly discussed other issues of concern, including the war in Iraq. She said political and diplomatic solutions are needed, and not "more boots on the ground."

The 2007 farm bill is another priority. She said the bill needs strong commodity price supports and permanent disaster relief. She said the country of origin labeling act needs to be expanded.

Last week's raid on workers at a Minnesota meat processing plant emphasizes the need for comprehensive immigration reform. She said the "do nothing Congress" has been talking about this for years but has done nothing about it. Klobuchar said she supports "order at the border" that includes some fencing, enforcement of existing immigration laws and a program of "earned citizenship" that would allow immigrants to become American citizens if they did things like pay taxes and learn English.