Freedom of Information Request to Congressman Dennis Moore about “Cap and Trade”

Congressman Dennis Moore

Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, Ohio may have been “bought off” for her “yes” vote for the recent Cap and Trade bill in the U.S. House.  A “Kaptur project”  was part of the 310-page amendment to the legislation released at 3 AM on the day of the vote.

According to the Washington Times, the 310-page “amendment was packed with other vote-getting provisions, both large and small, that had been sought by dozens of wavering Democrats.”

Frustrated by the vote of her Congresswoman, Toledo blogger Maggie Thurber filed a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Congresswoman’s Marcy Kaptur’s office.  Thurber wants to find out whether Kaptur voted for the Cap and Trade Bill because that was the will of her constituents — or whether the $3.5 billion in pork swayed her to vote “yes”.  So far, Congresswoman Kapture refuses to release info on calls for/against the cap and trade bill.

While I am not aware of “pork” in this bill that may have swayed Kansas Congressman Dennis Moore the way Marcy Kaptur may have been “persuaded,” I wondered why fiscally-conservative “Blue Dog” Democrat Dennis Moore voted for Cap and Trade.  The higher tax consequences of the bill and the heavy governmental regulatory burden on businesses may stifle economic growth, at a time when our economy is already depressed. 

Like Thurber in Ohio, I wondered how many in Kansas asked Congressman Moore to vote “yes” and how many asked him to vote “no” for Cap and trade.

I heard from a number of people attending the protest at the Johnson County Courthouse a week ago that they called Dennis Moore for the first time asking him to vote “no” on Cap and Trade.

At least one Kansas Democratic activist on Twitter on the day of the vote requested those on the left to call Moore to vote “yes” since calls were apparently running heavily for him to vote “no”:

6/26/2009 3:14 PM cacardinal: Action! Rep Moore is getting calls to vote NO on climate bill – we need more YES contacts from the 3rd NOW – DC # is 202.225.2865 #fb

How did Democratic strategist Chis Cardinal know the count on the calls Rep Moore was receiving?

I followed Thurber’s example and filed a FOIA request today with Congressman Moore’s office via his online E-mail. In my FOIA request to Congressman Moore, I asked:

Pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, I request access to and copies of records showing statistical counts of phone calls and letters for or against the “Cap and Trade” bill voted on in Congress on June 26,2009. Specifically, how many phone calls or letters asked you to vote “Yes” and how many asked you to vote “No” before you voted on the “Cap and Trade” bill? If you did not count the “Yes” and “No” requests, how did you summarize that information before you voted?

Let’s see how serious Congresswoman Kaptur and Congressman Dennis Moore are about FOIA and open records, and transparency.  The people deserve to know why they voted they way they did on Cap and Trade, and whether they ignored the input from their constituents.

How will Kaptur and Moore respond to these FOIA requests?

• Kaptur refuses to release info on calls for/against cap and tax bill, Thurber’s Thoughts, July 3, 2009.
• Rep. Kaptur gets $3.5 billion sweetener in climate bill, Washington Times, July 1, 2009.
• Modern Day Patriots protest “Cap and Trade” at Johnson County Courthouse, Kansas Meadowlark, June 28, 2009.

Tags: Cap and Trade Bill, Congressman Dennis Moore, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)