9-Feb-2012 - Editorial Board: The House should take the opportunity to help crack down on public corruption

Visted 1 times

THE HOUSE of Representatives is expected to take up Thursday a useful measure to prohibit insider trading by members of Congress and to beef up disclosure of lawmakers’ financial transactions. Unfortunately, NBA jerseys the version of the measure produced by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) omits one of the most important parts of the bill passed by the Senate: a provision that would restore prosecutors’ ability to go after official corruption. In a 2010 ruling involving former Enron executive Jeffrey K. Skilling, the Supreme Court dramatically limited the reach of the so-called “honest services fraud” law to cases of outright jerseys cheap bribery and kickbacks. A bipartisan provision, championed by Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and John Cornyn (R-Tex.), would repair this NHL jerseys prosecutorial gap in instances of public corruption by making it illegal for public officials to engage in undisclosed “self-dealing.” In the House, a parallel provision, sponsored by Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), unanimously passed the Judiciary Committee last year.

Comments (0)Post Comment View Whole Blog