Two U.S. House Republicans Thursday called for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to prove that a lobbying firm that represents Puerto Rico commonwealthers did not pay for a trip to Vieques, PR in 2001.
The issue is significant because the future of Representative Tom DeLay (R-TX) as House Majority Leader is being widely questioned due to claims that a lobbyist had paid for some of his travel. House Rules prohibit House members from traveling at lobbyists’ expense.
The questions about Pelosi’s trip by Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) were raised after it was revealed that records showed lobbying firm Smith, Dawson, and Andrews paid for travel by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) and her husband on the same trip taken by Pelosi and four other House Democrats. Tubbs Jones is a member of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly known as the Ethics Committee, which considers such violations of House rules. |