The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) has requested information about the fundraising activities of eight members of Congress, including Georgia Congressman Tom Price (R). According to news reports, the OCE has requested information regarding Rep. Price’s campaign fundraising and the financial regulatory bill passed in the House on December 11, 2009.

Before, and in the weeks following the vote, Rep. Price received $29,000 in campaign contributions from political action committees (PACs) with a direct stake in the financial regulation debate (Table 1). On December 10th, just one day before Rep. Price voted against financial reform legislation, he held a “Financial Services” luncheon, according to Sunlight Foundation’s PoliticalPartyTime.org.

As Public Campaign Action Fund's David Donnelly said in a press release today:

“This is a perfect example of what’s wrong with our broken political system,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director for Public Campaign Action Fund. “Rep. Price took thousands of dollars of special interest cash and voted their way, leaving voters wondering who he really represents in Washington, D.C.”

Rep. Price should immediately co-sponsor the Fair Elections Now Act (H.R. 1826), legislation that would sever the ties between members of Congress and their campaign contributors. It's time to show his constituents he represents them, and not his Wall Street donors.

Table 1: Donations from December 7 to December 31, 2009.

*Data provided by the Federal Election Commission. Accessed on June 16, 2010. Lobby client information analyzed by Public Campaign Action Fund using data from the Center for Responsive Politics.