Laura Miller Quotes

Honorariums are really dishonorariums. So long as they continue, public trust in Congress will sink even below its minimal level today.... Public officials should have only one paymaster: the Government. When the Government pays too little, the temptation to find other paymasters becomes far harder to resist.

We need to ban outside income for elected officials. Transparency alone is not enough; it doesn't solve the problem of creating outside dependencies.

Meaningful ethics reform is vital to restoring public confidence in Missouri's political system.

As we enter into the 110th Congress, it is imperative that we address ethics reforms needed to make this institution run correctly.

But I made one mistake which I would never repeat as a member of Congress when I was in Washington, and that was when I was elected I didn't go on trips because I was so afraid of having someone accuse me of taking junkets.

I ask the vice president to stop dodging the issue with legalese, and acknowledge his continued ties with Halliburton to the American people.

The state is obliged to fight corruption within the government.

If you chose to serve in Congress or on a congressional staff, you should be barred for life from working for any company, organization, or association which lobbies the federal government.

We make our public servants jump through quite a few hoops, you know. We get hysterical if they accept a $50 lunch from a lobbyist. We get hysterical if they accept a ride on some corporate jet.

The effective supervision and surveillance of the lobbyist remains as the continuing challenge to the people and the Congress.

Donations to political parties, candidates and elected officials should not be a means to gain personal or policy favours or buy access to politicians or civil servants…. Political parties, candidates and politicians should disclose assets, income and expenditure to an independent agency.

Government ought to be all outside and no inside.... Everybody knows that corruption thrives in secret places, and avoids public places, and we believe it a fair presumption that secrecy means impropriety.

Where there has been a major, major corruption scandal, that was the catalyst for very specific reform.

An intuitive part of the American ethos is a kind of protectiveness of the public's fear. We have to remember how unique that is. As scandal-ridden as we may be, we start with a basic expectation that it's not your job in public service to use it to help your friend.

Throughout my career, I have made rooting out public corruption a top priority.

When we see the corrupting influence of political decision making in our public health professionals, we should ask questions.

Whistleblowers play a vital role in ensuring that the federal government is accountable to the people it serves.

I look at the corruption in Albany and we cannot accept that.

When I was attorney general, we had the strongest public integrity unit in the country.

The Watergate reforms did work well for many years, and if improved and broadened, these reforms can have real and major impact on the system today.

As Members of Congress, we should not be using public office for private gain.

When it comes to governments and corporations, we should demand that less is secret. That's where corruption flowers.

I came to office promising major ethics reform to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is a law. While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for. That luxury jet was over-the-top. I put it on eBay.

The American people deserve to know that their elected leaders play by the exact same rules that they play by and that their lawmakers' only interest is what's best for the country, not their own financial gain.

Personally I don't think solving corruption is such a big problem.