ORIGINALLY POSTED: 5/17/07 at 10:24AMI don't have a subscription to Roll Call, so I am unable to access the rest of the story, but this is rather disturbing:
For 18 years, Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) has worked on issues of importance to the financial services industry while holding a major stake in a community bank — all with the blessing of the House ethics committee.That sounds like a conflict of interest to me.
If the Congressman or one of his staffers would care to explain how this is not a conflict of interest, I'd be more than happy to publish an update here. Email me at wmdtvmatt - at - yahoo - dot - com.
5/18 UPDATE: I received an email this afternoon from Rep. Gillmor's Communications Director. As I promised above, here it is:
Hi Matt,I am content to accept this explanation unless anybody can give me a logical reason not to...
I read with some interest your post about Rep. Gillmor's service on the Financial Services Committee. For more than four decades, Rep. Gillmor has served on the board of directors of one of the last locally owned and operated banks in Northwest Ohio . This year, when he was asked to serve as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, Congressman Gillmor wrote to the House Ethics Committee for guidance to ensure he maintained his record of perfect compliance with the rules of the House.
The Ethics Committee advised Congressman Gillmor that the rules of the House "do not require you to abstain from voting on the House floor on banking and financial services-related legislation that would impact those sectors generally and would not have a direct and distinct impact on your holdings." It is important to note that Congressman Gillmor has only ever voted on legislation which affects the financial services industry generally and not on anything that would affect him specifically. In fact, even the Democratic Chairman of the Financial Services Committee has publicly stated that he does not believe that Rep. Gillmor has a conflict of interest.
Much like a farmer serving on the Agriculture Committee, a veteran serving on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, or a taxpayer serving on the Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Gillmor's service on the Financial Services Committee brings a level of experience which is often lacking on Congressional committees.
There exists absolutely no conflict of interest in Congressman Gillmor's service as he works to ensure the health of the overall United States economy.
Thanks and have a great weekend,
-Brad-
Bradley S. Mascho, Communications Director
Office of Congressman Paul E. Gillmor
