We told you Tuesday about new alleged ethics violations raised against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay involving an expensive foreign junket taken by DeLay and his wife and allegedly paid for by a lobbyist, a clear violation of House rules.

But in the last 48 hours another serious allegation has emerged implicating DeLay.  This one involves a delegation of Republican House members, including DeLay, accepting an expense-paid trip to South Korea in 2001 from a registered foreign service agent, despite House Rules that bar the acceptance of travel expenses from foreign agents.

The allegations reported this morning by The Washington Post were serious enough to prompt, Jan W. Baran, a highly respected former Republican National Committee lawyer to call the trip "a problem," and say that this is a situation that will likely trigger an investigation by the Ethics Committee.

We need to keep strenuously lobbying the Ethics Committee members to make sure they launch that investigation.  You have already been calling them since Tuesday, when we sent our last email to you about DeLay, and we know that they are feeling the pressure of your calls.  Please keep them up.

We also want you to call Republican congressional leadership offices.  Please tell them that the Ethics Committee has an obligation to look into the allegations that have been raised, and that as leaders, they must make sure that happens:

• Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL): 202-225-2976
• Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Majority Whip: 202-225-6536
• Rep. Eric J. Cantor (R-VA), Deputy Majority Whip: 202-225-2815
• Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), Conference Chair: 202-225-2015
• Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), Conference Vice-Chair: 202-225-5831
• Rep. John T. Doolitte (R-CA), Conference Secretary: 202-225-2511
• Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), Policy Chairman: 202-225-3361
• Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY), Chair, National Republican Congressional Committee: 202-225-5265

The members listed above who make up the Republican leadership are accountable to all Americans, not just the citizens who live in their districts.  The same is true for Ethics Committee members - they may not be your representatives in Congress, but as a citizen concerned about the ethical behavior of Congress, they are accountable to you.

Please forward this email to as many family members, friends, and colleagues as you can by clicking on the link below this email.  Let us know how your calls are going by posting on our blog .  Make sure to check our blog and our website, as we will keep you updated as there are further developments.

Thank you again for all you do for Common Cause.

Sincerely,

Chellie Pingree
President & CEO, Common Cause