Burner Statement on Congressman Reichert’s Failure to Win a Seat on Appropriations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sandeep Kaushik, (425) 443-2564
Burner Statement on Congressman Reichert’s Failure to Win a Seat on Appropriations
Bellevue, WA (Feb. 14) - The man Robert Novak called the "most endangered Republican House member in 2008" suffered another setback today with the decision by Republican leaders to deny Congressman Dave Reichert the seat he coveted on the House Appropriations Committee.
"In recent weeks Congressman Reichert has made public statements in which he explicitly tied his reelection chances to winning a seat on Appropriations. Today, instead of receiving a Valentine's Day gift from his Republican colleagues, he learned that they have rightfully rejected his effort to engage in pork barrel politics for his own political advantage," said Burner campaign spokesman Sandeep Kaushik. "Congressman Reichert has proven himself to be more concerned with being bailed out by Republican leadership than he is with solving the pressing problems facing this country."
Congressman Reichert is widely seen as an ineffective member of Congress. In 2007, he was ranked 419th out of 435 members <http://www.congress.org/congressorg/power_rankings/power_card.tt?id=142979> of Congress in a widely cited ranking of members' "demonstrated power and the ability to be effective." This ranking puts him lower in influence than even non-voting members of Congress from American Samoa and Guam. Novak has further described Reichert as having "not distinguished himself during three years in Congress."
Burner, meanwhile, has made a strong public commitment to go well beyond current House ethics rules regarding earmarks. In the interest of public transparency and integrity in government, she has pledged that when elected she will publicly disclose on her web site any earmark she requests.
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