Sen. Burns to Return Abramoff-Linked
Money
Yahoo News/AP
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer
December 16, 2005
WASHINGTON - Retreating under fire, Republican Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana
said he will return about $150,000 in donations that he received from indicted
lobbyist Jack Abramoff, his clients and associates.
Democrats have criticized Burns, who is up for re-election next year, for
his connection to the lobbyist at the center of a federal probe that has
entangled at least a half dozen lawmakers and Bush administration officials.
Earlier this week, a spokesman for Burns said the senator would not return the
money because it had already been spent.
"The contributions given to my political committees by Jack Abramoff and his
clients, while legal and fully disclosed, have served to undermine the public's
confidence in its government," Burns said.
Burns' link to Abramoff has created a flurry of headlines in his home state.
Burns had a 48 percent approval rating in a November poll conducted by Montana
State University-Billings, one of his lowest approval ratings since the
university started asking the question.
The senator, first elected in 1988, won a third term with just 51 percent of
the vote in 2000.
The Associated Press has reported that in 2001 the Montana Republican and
his staff met Abramoff's lobbying team on at least eight occasions and
collected $12,000 in donations around the time that Burns took legislative
action favorable to Abramoff's clients in the Northern Mariana Islands.
Donations to Burns included money directly from Abramoff and a key garment
company executive in the islands. The executive was part of the coalition
paying Abramoff's firm to fend off stronger U.S. regulations on the Pacific
islands.
The Justice Department is investigating whether Abramoff, already charged
with fraud in a separate Florida case, won any undue influence through
donations and favors.
Burns has said he hasn't been contacted by federal investigators in the
Abramoff inquiry or received any subpoenas. Last month, Burns wrote to Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales, urging that his conduct be reviewed so he could be
cleared of wrongdoing.
"I welcome your thorough and expeditious review of this matter so that it
may be disposed of officially once and for all and these outrageous and
wrongful allegations may be put to rest before we get into the 2006 re-election
cycle," Burns wrote.
In 2001, Burns served on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee,
which was considering legislation the Marianas opposed.
On May 23 of that year, Burns voted against a bill in the Senate Energy
Committee that would have phased out a nonresident contract worker program
benefiting the Marianas' garment industry. The committee approved the bill, but
it never saw action on the Senate floor. In 1999, it had moved through the same
committee by voice vote without objections from Burns.
Burns' office told The Associated Press that he could not recall why he
didn't object to the bill in 1999 but that his opposition in 2001 was prompted
by a report indicating changes to immigration laws could hurt the islands'
economy. He said it wasn't influenced by Abramoff or any donations.
He also ran a Senate appropriations subcommittee that controlled spending
for the Interior Department, which regulates U.S. territories, including the
islands, and American Indian programs. Burns and North Dakota Sen. Byron
Dorgan, who is the top Democrat on that subcommittee, wrote a letter in 2002
backing an Indian school building program sought by Abramoff's tribal clients,
and helped arrange congressional funding for it.
Dorgan said Dec. 12 that he is returning $67,000 in donations from the
lobbyist and his associates.
Burns said he would return all of the donations to their original donors,
with the exception of those from Abramoff and his associates, which would be
donated to Native American charities.
In a statement, Burns called on other members of Congress to return their
own donations from the lobbyist.
"This is an important step that all public officials should take in order to
renew the faith of Montanans, and all Americans, in their government," he said.
"We can and must set a higher ethical standard."
|