Democrats to reform ethics piecemeal

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Democrats are planning to undertake U.S. congressional ethics reform in a piece-by-piece fashion using freshman legislators, The Washington Post said.

Planning for floor debate when Democrats have majorities in both chambers of the U.S. Congress is under way, and the newspaper said the strategy is shaping up to allow new lawmakers to introduce reforms one at a time to maximize media exposure and to minimize the chance a sweeping omnibus bill could be tampered with, the newspaper said.

Such elements would include a single bill banning gifts, meals and travel from lobbyists, while another would focus solely on controls on the budget deficit, sources told the Post.

Another rule to be debated on its own in January would require the sponsors of funding for home-state pet projects be identified to stem the last-minute practice of so-called pork-barreling, or tacking unrelated add-ons to a large bill.

"This will be the most significant ethics and lobbying reform that Congress has ever voted on," said U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., one of the architects of the effort.