Speaking of the new generation, there’s Rep. Eric Cantor. This was from Roll Call the other day (sub required):
Cantor is mulling introducing his own legislative proposal, which has not been hashed out, that would include what he calls “internal control mechanisms.” He said Republicans need to take serious reform actions to address how some Members abused the system for their own gain.
Citing the actions of incarcerated former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) and Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), Cantor said more needs to be done to address earmark reform and oversight of federal dollars.
“We have some divide in our Conference over what the Appropriations Committee ought to be doing and ought to be transparent about,” he said. “I fully support transparency on that, to me, that’s a little step.”
Cantor noted that the increased spotlight on the earmark process caused a 37 percent drop in earmark requests this fiscal year.
“The American public expects us and our base expects us to exercise oversight over how federal dollars are spent and to exercise oversight onto ourselves,” he said. “To me, there has to be a way to ensure that we have in place” some new practices.