Congressional Anti-Corruption Amendment

By Serafin Quintanar

I am supporting an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make our Congress accountable to the people once again. I have drafted legislation and am in complete support of a constitutional amendment that, if passed would truly have the strength and force to minimize corruption in the halls of Congress. The four tenets of this Amendment are as follows:

The amendment would disallow Congress from exempting themselves from any law that they pass on the American people. This is so obvious that it is ridiculous. This literally can't get done soon enough.

The amendment would only allow Congressman to receive compensation while they are actually serving in office. This means that they will not receive pensions or retirement from the federal government. We need more citizen legislators who are going to Congress to make America a better place to live in, who can then return home to their districts and live as productive members of the private sector. We can no longer stand to have men enter into Congress so that they can take care of themselves and provide a life of comfort for themselves at the long term expense of the American people.

Finally, we need to give the President of the United States the power of the line-item veto. 43 states have this power granted to their governors, but the President of the United States does not. Ronald Reagan tried desperately to get this power enacted but could not during his term. The reason for this need is simple. The billions of dollars that are spent in Congress on earmarks and pork-barrel projects could be eliminated by giving the President the power to cross these line-items out of any bill. Once crossed out, the good portions of the bill can become law, but the line items that were crossed out would have to be passed by a 2/3 majority in the Congress. The reality is that no Congressman at that point would have the guts to expose himself and try to gain support from 2/3 of the house of representatives to pass his pork barrel, special interest spending item. This would drastically reduce corruption in Congress. Ronald Reagan wanted it and so do I.

I am the only primary candidate who has supported this Congressional Anti-Corruption Amendment. Before you vote for a primary candidate, ask yourself this question, "Do I really want to vote in another career politician, or do I want to vote for someone who has already dedicated his candidacy to reforming the Congress?"