Bill Would Deny Pensions To Felons

With Republicans citing the case of former Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, the House passed legislation Thursday to deny pensions to members of Congress convicted of felonies.

The bill, approved 391-32, would apply only to lawmakers convicted next year and after, but GOP lawmakers literally made Rostenkowski, D-Ill., the poster boy of the proceedings.

Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Ark., appeared on the House floor with a poster depicting a frowning Rostenkowski, his face bisected with a red slash with the figure $96,462, the amount of his annual pension.

“Dan Rostenkowski is collecting almost $100,000 a year while his feet are propped up on his prison cell bed,” said Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill. Rostenkowski, who as chairman of the tax-writing ways and means panel was one of the Congress’ most powerful members, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in April, admitting he used tax dollars for gifts to friends and to pay workers to perform personal and political work.

Suffering from prostate cancer, he began serving a 17-month sentence in July at a federal prison hospital in Minnesota.