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CREW Urges Rules Chair to Introduce Legislation Revoking Pensions of Convicted House Members

Washington, DC – In light of former Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s plea to two felony counts this past week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
sent a letter to Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, asking that he introduce legislation revoking the pensions of Members of Congress convicted of felonies.

Currently Mr. Cunningham is entitled to keep his government pension, regardless of the crimes he committed as an elected official.

“A Member of Congress who betrays the public trust by breaking the very laws he swears to uphold should not be permitted to keep the hard earned money of American taxpayers,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today. “Congressional felons do not belong on the public dole.”

Any legislation regarding the revocation of Members’ pensions would be referred to the House Administration Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH). Unfortunately, Rep. Ney is the target of an ongoing Department of Justice bribery investigation and may himself ultimately be convicted of a felony. Given these circumstances, Rep. Ney would be unlikely to move such legislation.

Similar legislation has been introduced in the past. In 2002, when former Rep. James Traficant (D-OH) was convicted of fraud and bribery, Reps. Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Ginny Brown-Waite (D-FL) introduced a bill to prevent lawmakers from collecting a pension if convicted of a crime involving their duties or after being expelled from Congress.

“We strongly urge Rep. Dreier to introduce this bill and the House to act on it quickly to reassure the public that the House will not tolerate illegal conduct on the part of its Members.” Sloan continued, “Members of both parties need to start acting to restore integrity to the House of Representatives. This legislation would be a step in the right direction.”