What would our founding fathers, the men who fought a war against the most powerful nation of their time because they believed in our American system of government, say about Mark Foley?
What would Lincoln, who struggled to keep our country together in perhaps its darkest hour, do with the growing number of congressmen who have sold their votes to the highest bidder?
What would FDR, who earned the people's trust by pulling the country out of the Great Depression, only to risk it all by entering the United States into World War II, think about those elected officials who abuse the power of their office for their own benefit?
All of these men thought the American experiment required a government of upstanding politicians dedicated not to personal gain, but to the people they were elected to serve. It would be na've to believe that past American administrations and Congresses have been corruption-free. From the widespread bribes paid to Ulysses S. Grant's Cabinet to the Watergate scandal that brought about the resignation of former President Richard Nixon, our representatives in government haven't always been the moral beacons we expect.
Fortunately, the majority of politicians are morally upstanding citizens. More often than not, our elected officials do not squander the trust we invest in them. However, in the past year several members and former members of the U.S. House of Representatives seem to forget that they, too, are subject to this nation's laws. During this session of the 109th Congress alone, several members of the House have been charged or accused of crimes and other wrongdoings.
The most prominent scandal in Congress this year involves former Rep. Mark Foley of Florida. On Sept. 29, Foley resigned after it was reported that he sent sexually explicit instant messages to underage male pages. The transcripts of these messages are disgusting. It's appalling that a member of Congress would use his power and status to seduce underage high school students. To make matters worse, several members of the House knew about these inappropriate messages, yet failed to take effective action.
But while Foley's scandal has been garnering the most news attention, there are other examples of corruption at the highest levels. Just a week ago, Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, legalspeak for saying he accepted bribes from Jack Abramoff. And the worst part is that he is still a member of Congress. Ney is not seeking re-election and has said he will resign, but he still holds his seat in Congress. If it wasn't bad enough that a sitting Congressman took bribes in the first place, it's even worse that he did not resign immediately after pleading guilty to these crimes. Former Rep. Tom DeLay, who served as majority leader of the House of Representatives until his indictment in 2005 by a Texas grand jury for violations of campaign finance laws, was the first majority leader indicted while in office, and later resigned his seat in Congress after he and his aides were revealed to have connections to Jack Abramoff.
Foley has not been charged with any crimes and DeLay, who maintains his innocence, has yet to be convicted of anything. But former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham is not so fortunate. He resigned last November and is now serving an eight-year sentence in federal prison. Cunningham pleaded guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes. At trial, his "bribe price list" was revealed, showing that he had set prices for different actions.
Even though all of the above-mentioned members and former members of the House are Republicans, the Democratic Party isn't immune from wrongdoing. Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana has been under investigation for corruption by the FBI for more than a year. He was videotaped taking a leather briefcase with $100,000 as a bribe from a FBI informant at the Ritz Carlton in Arlington, Va. Of that same money, $90,000 was found in frozen food boxes in Jefferson's freezer at his D.C. home. He literally was caught with cold, hard cash.
Americans have the right to demand that our elected officials do not turn their position into their own personal money or pleasure mill. Those who betray the trust of their constituents through illegal actions do not deserve to be in Congress. They deserve to be behind bars.
Benjamin van der Horst, a College sophomore from Cincinnati, is executive director of the nonpartisan political organization CSAmerica and the managing editor of the Emory Political Review.
This column ran on 10/20/06 in the Emory Wheel. For more go to www.emorywheel.com
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