Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Spring 2014, Vol. 40, No. 1 | Page 21

www.vtbar.org

harm if you’re antagonistic to them.”
– Rep. Tim Penny (D-Minnesota)
• “You get invited to a dinner somewhere and someone gives you some
money. And then you get a call a
month later and he wants to see you.
Are you going to say no … You’re
not going to say no. So it does buy
access.” – Rep Peter Kostmayer (DPennsylvania)

Restoring Citizen Representation

• “What happens is—at least what happened to me is—[I would] usually get
a list of 30 lobbyists, [and start] calling them, asking them to be on my
committee and raise me $5,000 or
$10,000 by a specified date. And
then when they call and say, ‘Wyche,
I’d like to talk to you about the agricultural bill or banking bill coming up
next week,’ you say to yourself, ‘Well,
absolutely.’ How can you not?” – Sen.
Wyche Fowler (D-Georgia)
• “If you’re on Ways and Means, like
Pete Stark [D-California] and some of
my friends, anytime you want you can
have a cozy little lunch downtown and
tell them [the lobbyists] it’s going to
cost $1,000 or whatever it is, and the
special interests flock—flock—to your
luncheon.” – Rep. Don Edwards