Quotes by Chellie Pingree

“Breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktail parties to boot. The normal American citizen doesnt have that level of access or influence.”

“If they put up something that just looks like window-dressing, it wont be supported by the public. This is an incredible moment.”

“The danger is that they are going to talk about a variety of proposals that will look more like window dressing than an institutional change in the way they do business.”

“It would make an enormous difference. Its a much higher hurdle to cross if everyone knows who you are talking to -- especially if there is a big vote in Congress the next day.”

“This is an enormous problem for our democracy and it really is at a crisis point. More and more people are looking at this level of corruption in Washington, in their home states and theyre saying why should I bother to vote.”

“Both of the parties proposals fail to get at the heart of the problem, which is a complete lack of enforcement of the rules in Congress. Without credible enforcement, new rules are just more words.”

“Congress has proven beyond any doubt that it is not up to the task of policing the conduct of its own members. Thats why we need strong, independent enforcement of the ethics rules by an outside commission.”

“The fact that public servants who have seriously violated their duties to the public would be rewarded by a lifetime pension seems grossly unfair to average citizens.”

“Companies get an incredible return on their investment and feel they cant stop spending the money. Theyre still looking for ways to influence the process, and there are still many ways to do that.”

“It is important that we Mainers continue our strong support of the program that has so successfully shaped our current political environment and led to similar reforms in other places.”

Incredibly, oil and gas companies dont have to pay certain environmental costs that amount to small change to them, while an offshore wind project start-up is faced with fees that could mean the difference between building a wind farm and packing up and going home.