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In partisan vote, House OKs ethics bill by 4 votesPelosi: Bill 'does nothing to curtail the culture of corruption'
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YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSWASHINGTON (CNN) -- It slipped through the House by four votes, divided largely along party lines, but now comes the real test: Is the new ethics bill enough to rejuvenate Congress' battered image after a series of high-profile lobbying scandals? By a 217-213 vote Wednesday, legislators passed a bill that suspends privately funded travel for members of Congress and their staffs until the end of the year; makes it more difficult for lawmakers to attach pet projects to spending bills; and adds more detailed disclosure rules for lobbyists. The House and Senate will have to negotiate the final bill in conference committee. However, the bill is not what it was in January when House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, proposed measures to ban all gifts from lobbyists, including travel, and to double how long lawmakers have to wait before becoming lobbyists after they leave Congress. The bill was nearly defeated last week when the leadership could not get enough votes for a procedural maneuver to move the bill forward. (Full story) After briefly suspending debate, the GOP leadership finally convinced Republican lawmakers that their credibility would be damaged if the bill failed, and the House voted 216-207 to advance debate on the bill. Hastert wanted a vote on his bill in March, but his GOP colleagues were split on how far changes should go. Wednesday's vote was largely a partisan matter, with only eight Democrats voting for the bill and only 20 Republicans voting against it. "They voted against it because they wanted to do more," said Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-California, when asked about the Republicans who voted against the measure. Democrats offered an alternative bill, but it was shot down 216-213. Despite his January proposal being drastically scaled back, Hastert hailed the bill as an "important first step toward real reform" and pledged to expand the bill's pet-project changes to all legislation, not just spending bills. "Democracy won't work if citizens don't trust their government," Hastert said. "Elected officials must be held to the highest ethical standards and have the confidence of people back home, and House Republicans understand that we have a duty to do everything we can to keep the trust and confidence of our constituents." Most House Democrats denounced the bill as a "sham," and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, accused Republicans of allowing lobbyists to pen the bill. "When the energy companies write the energy bill, we have gasoline that costs $3 a gallon. When pharmaceutical companies write the Medicare prescription drug bill, we have a bill full of giveaways to cronies, but nothing for America's seniors. When lobbyists write the lobbying reform bill, we end up with a ruse that winks at reform and does nothing to curtail the culture of corruption," she said. CNN's Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report. 
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