Sean Cloherty
Member
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040518/1051557.asp
Firm's gift to Schumer preceded bill in its favor
By DOUGLAS TURNER
News Washington Bureau Chief
5/18/2004
WASHINGTON - Sen. Charles E. Schumer received more than $54,000 in campaign gifts from a major security company about two months before he sponsored a bill the company said it "urgently needed," a nonpartisan research organization said Monday.
The legislation would allow private security firms to get confidential FBI background information on prospective employees. The bill would let private police companies research FBI subject files going back 10 years.
The Tennessee-based firm is called Guardsmark, one of the largest private security firms in the country with revenues topping $500 million a year.
The research organization, PoliticalMoneyline, said 34 donors affiliated with Guardsmark gave Friends of Schumer $54,500 on Jan. 27, 2003. These 34 contributors "made no other donations" in the current 2003-04 election cycle.
Guardsmark President Ira A. Lipman gave Schumer's campaign $1,500 in February 2003, and gave Republicans $25,000 later in the year.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Schumer, D-N.Y., sits, passed the legislation last October. The full Senate passed it in November.
"It's very unusual to see company executives, who never gave to anyone else, to make this large a contribution on the same day," said an experienced researcher on campaign finance. "It shows the influence a CEO can exert in a company."
Schumer and Guardsmark said the legislation is a homeland security issue.
Blake Zeff, spokesman for Schumer, said "long before Sen. Schumer even heard of Guardsmark, he believed that all security guards should have background checks. Post-9/11, most New Yorkers would agree it is even more urgent that anyone applying for this kind of sensitive position be thoroughly checked."
"Private security is a vital front-line defense against terrorism and crime," said Lipman. "Private security officers today outnumber public law enforcement by 3-to-1."
Five days after passage by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 23, 2003, Lipman donated $25,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The Senate bill is awaiting action by the House Judiciary Committee.
Lipman donated $309,000 in soft money to the Democratic National Committee in 2000, and another $25,000 to former Vice President Al Gore's Florida recount effort.
Firm's gift to Schumer preceded bill in its favor
By DOUGLAS TURNER
News Washington Bureau Chief
5/18/2004
WASHINGTON - Sen. Charles E. Schumer received more than $54,000 in campaign gifts from a major security company about two months before he sponsored a bill the company said it "urgently needed," a nonpartisan research organization said Monday.
The legislation would allow private security firms to get confidential FBI background information on prospective employees. The bill would let private police companies research FBI subject files going back 10 years.
The Tennessee-based firm is called Guardsmark, one of the largest private security firms in the country with revenues topping $500 million a year.
The research organization, PoliticalMoneyline, said 34 donors affiliated with Guardsmark gave Friends of Schumer $54,500 on Jan. 27, 2003. These 34 contributors "made no other donations" in the current 2003-04 election cycle.
Guardsmark President Ira A. Lipman gave Schumer's campaign $1,500 in February 2003, and gave Republicans $25,000 later in the year.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Schumer, D-N.Y., sits, passed the legislation last October. The full Senate passed it in November.
"It's very unusual to see company executives, who never gave to anyone else, to make this large a contribution on the same day," said an experienced researcher on campaign finance. "It shows the influence a CEO can exert in a company."
Schumer and Guardsmark said the legislation is a homeland security issue.
Blake Zeff, spokesman for Schumer, said "long before Sen. Schumer even heard of Guardsmark, he believed that all security guards should have background checks. Post-9/11, most New Yorkers would agree it is even more urgent that anyone applying for this kind of sensitive position be thoroughly checked."
"Private security is a vital front-line defense against terrorism and crime," said Lipman. "Private security officers today outnumber public law enforcement by 3-to-1."
Five days after passage by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 23, 2003, Lipman donated $25,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The Senate bill is awaiting action by the House Judiciary Committee.
Lipman donated $309,000 in soft money to the Democratic National Committee in 2000, and another $25,000 to former Vice President Al Gore's Florida recount effort.
