Chellie Pingree
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"Chellie Pingree" is an United States/American politician. She is a Democratic Party (United States)/Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing since 2009. The district includes most of the southern part of the state, including Portland, Maine/Portland and Augusta, Maine/Augusta.

Pingree was a member of the Maine Senate from 1992 to 2000, serving as majority leader from 1996 to 2000. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate in United States Senate election in Maine, 2002/2002, losing to Republican Party (United States)/Republican Susan Collins. From 2003 to 2006, she was President and CEO of Common Cause. She is the first Democratic woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine.

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Companies get an incredible return on their investment and feel they can't stop spending the money. They're still looking for ways to influence the process, and there are still many ways to do that.

It would make an enormous difference. It's 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 they're saying why should I bother to vote.

If they put up something that just looks like window-dressing, it won't be supported by the public. This is an incredible moment.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.