Congresspedia front-page updates archive, June 2006

The following news updates were among those added to Congresspedia in June 2006:

• Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) was enraged to learn that he voted for a defense appropriations bill which included a provision he opposed. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• The House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning several media outlets, includig the ''New York Times'', for publishing information on the Bush administration's financial surveillance program. The resolution was sponsored by Rep. Mike Oxley (R-Ohio).
• One of Bob Ney's (R-Ohio) district aids, Matthew Parker, was subpoenaed in the federal investigation of Jack Abramoff according to the Associated Press. (More at the Sunlight Blogs)
• Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is delaying the 2007 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill over an 8 percent increase in Senate spending. Coburn stated, "In a time of war, rising gas prices and record deficits, increasing our own budget by an exorbitant amount sends the wrong message to the public".(More at the Sunlight blogs)
• ESRI, a top technology firm and donor to Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), verified that it was issued a subpoena in the federal investigation surrounding the congressman. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) has spent $54,142 of his campaign money on leisure vacations. (More at Sunlight blogs)
• Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blogged about his party’s earmarking on Porkbusters, stating "So why has my party, the party of small government, lately adopted the practices of our opponents who believe the bigger the government the better? I'm afraid it's because at times we value our incumbency more than our principle.” (More at the Sunlight Blogs)
• Over the past four years Rep. Gary Ackerman’s stock value in defense contractor Xenonics has increased from $1,000-$15,000 to $500,000-$1,000,000 during the time at which America has been at war. (More at Sunlight Blogs)
• The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for D.C. will hear McDermott’s appeal of a case about a recorded telephone conversation involving Newt Gingrich and House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) that was illegally leaked to reporters by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.).
• Rep. Jerry Lewis’s (R-Calif.) step daughter, Julie Willis-Leon, has made $37,420 dollars from her PAC whose listed address is a Capitol Hill town house owned by a former Lewis employee. (More at Sunlight Blogs)
• Rep. John Doolittle's (R-Calif.) wife's company was paid indirectly, without her knowing, by an Indian tribe client of Jack Abramoff when working on his fundraiser.
• A Senate report on the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal disputes claims previously made by Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio). (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) denied wrongdoing in response to allegations that he failed to properly disclose an Illinois real estate trust for which he had invested. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) helped secure $1.28 million in a 2005 highway bill for street improvements near a planned residential and commercial development that he co-owns. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) continued his anti-earmark crusade by challenging a request made by House Speaker Dennis Hastert. (R-Ill.) (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), a vocal opponent of earmarking, was recently forced to defend some pork-barrel projects of his own. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) helped procure more than $2 million in earmarks for an Ohio historical site operated by his wife. {More at the Sunlight blogs)
• According to the ''Washington Post,'' Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) has made several of his earmark requests public. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) failed in his attempt to remove several earmarks from a Transportation, Treasury, and HUD appropriations bill. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• As a result of increased media scrutiny regarding its' ties to Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), the Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton & White lobbying firm announced it is breaking up into two separate partnerships. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• Despite an FBI inquiry into his ties to the Lowery Denton & White lobbying firm, Rep. Ken Calvert is likely to take over the seat on the House Committee on Appropriations vacated by Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas). (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• After being subpoenaed in the federal investigation surrounding Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and the Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton & White lobbying firm, the City of Redlands, California is considering ending its relationship with the group. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• At the urging of Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the House Democratic Caucus voted to remove scandal-laden Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from the House Committee on Ways and Means.
• Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) introduced legislation nicknamed the "Stop Over Spending Act of 2006" with the hope of enforcing caps on discretionary and mandatory spending. (More at Sunlight blogs)
• Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) earmarked $500,000 over two years for construction and renovation of a city pool in Banning, California. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has used an Illinois trust to invest in real estate near the proposed route of the Prairie Parkway, a highway project for which he's secured $207 million in earmarked appropriations. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) filed corrections to past financial disclosure forms, admitting numerous errors. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) bid farewell to Congress last week and joins Randy "Duke" Cunningham in the former members of Congress category. He'll stay in the members of Congress under investigation page, however, due to the ongoing Texas campaign finance investigation.
• Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) is expected to plead guilty to a DUI charge today.
• Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) circulated a newspaper story to constituents detailing the close relationship between Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), his former colleague and lobbyist Bill Lowery, and a PAC run by his stepdaughter. (More at the Sunlight blogs)
• The San Bernadino Sun has created a page documenting the ongoing investigation of Rep. Jerry Lewis (D-Calif.) to help document his ongoing scandals. (More at the Sunlight blogs)