Kerry bill to target legislators convicted of misconduct

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry said he plans to file a bill today that would strip government pensions from lawmakers who are convicted of official misconduct, adding a new element to congressional efforts to overhaul ethics and lobbying laws.

Kerry's bill would halt pensions for senators and House members who are found guilty of bribery, perjury, or conspiracy to defraud the government. Kerry is nicknaming the bill the ''Duke Cunningham Act," after the Republican House member from California who resigned his seat last year after pleading guilty to accepting bribes.

Cunningham is entitled to a pension of about $40,000 a year under current law, which denies pensions only to former lawmakers who are convicted of crimes against the United States, such as treason and espionage.

''It's disgusting that hard-working taxpayers fund the retirement of criminals like Duke Cunningham," said Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat. ''We have to restore the public trust in the country. People don't believe in Washington. They think it's broken."

Kerry's bill -- which so far has one cosponsor, Senator Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado -- is being filed as Capitol Hill turns its attention to lobbying changes and ethics rules in the wake of Cunningham's plea, as well as the guilty plea of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The Abramoff scandal has so far implicated at least two Republican lawmakers -- Representatives Bob Ney of Ohio and Tom DeLay of Texas -- though neither has been charged with any criminal offenses.

Yesterday, the Senate Rules Committee held a hearing on lobbying reform proposals, and House and Senate leaders have said they intend to address the issue with a sweeping overhaul package in the coming weeks.

Kerry, who is mulling a second presidential run in 2008, has taken a more active role in capitalizing on ethics scandals that have surrounded Republicans in Washington. Yesterday, he sent out a fund-raising appeal to supporters for his new ''Break Their Grip on Power" campaign, which will run advertisements in politically competitive districts to help Democratic candidates.

''Republican and right-wing activists have been getting a lot of practice trying to hide their incompetence, corruption, and failures from the American people," Kerry wrote in the e-mail to supporters.