CREW CRITICIZES CHOICE OF SANTORUM TO CREATE SENATE ETHICS PACKAGE
Santorum’s Corrupt Behavior Disqualifies Him for Ethics Task Washington, DC
– The choice of Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) this week to head the ethics
charge in the Senate demonstrates Majority Leader Bill Frist’s (R-TN) deaf
ear to the importance of high ethical standards in the Senate.
According to The Washington Post, shortly before Thanksgiving, Senator
Frist, asked Sen. Santorum to draft a package of lobbying restrictions.
“Senator Santorum’s history of unethical behavior suggests that he is
more likely to undercut any real ethics reform than he is to toughen ethics
rules,†Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. “We strongly
question Senator Frist’s decision to choose a Senator that CREW listed as
one of the 13 most corrupt Members of Congress.â€ÂÂ
Among Sen. Santorum’s unethical conduct:
•Sen. Santorum runs the K Street project, created by conservative
activist Grover Norquist and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), in
which he ensures that all top lobbying and trade association jobs are filled
by Republicans;
•Two days before Sen. Santorum introduced a bill that would benefit
private national weather companies at the expense of the National Weather
Service, the Senator's political action committee, America's Foundation,
received a $2,000 donation from the chief executive officer of AccuWeather,
Inc., a leading weather data provider located in State College, PA.;
