Sen. Reid says boxing matches part of his official duties

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said it's his official duty to attend boxing matches in Nevada and that he did nothing wrong when he accepted complimentary ringside seats from a state agency that was lobbying him.
"I would be criticized if I didn't go," Reid told reporters Tuesday after addressing a veterans group in Las Vegas. "It's just like going to an Ohio State football game, an Arizona State football game — in Nevada, boxing is it. I have an obligation to make sure boxing is conducted properly not only in Nevada but around the country."
The Nevada Democrat was responding to an Associated Press story that detailed how the senator had accepted free tickets possibly valued at several thousand dollars from the Nevada Athletic Commission, the agency that regulates boxing in the state.
At the time, the agency was lobbying Reid to drop his support for the creation of a federal boxing commission that could have undermined the powerful Nevada agency's authority. Senate rules instruct senators and staff to "be wary" of accepting gifts that may be intended to influence official action.
Reid continues to support the creation of a federal boxing commission, according to his spokesman Jim Manley.
The Nevada Democrat said he has visited with members of the commission while at ringside. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and John Ensign, R-Nev., also attended boxing matches. Ensign accepted a free ticket but had recused himself from the proposed boxing legislation, his office said. McCain later paid for his ticket.
"Sen. McCain is from Arizona, I'm from Nevada. He's not supposed to get free tickets in the state of Nevada, the laws aren't set up that way. He came here to watch the fight, I came here to work for the state of Nevada and to watch the fight," Reid said.
Reid made his comments after addressing a group of veterans gathered at town hall meeting also attended by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who was in town fundraising.
Dean called criticism of Reid's ethics "ridiculous" and repeated his attacks on Republicans.
"Harry Reid has proposed the toughest ethics legislation we've ever seen in the Senate. Democrats have proposed the same in the House and neither one passed because the Republicans don't want ethics legislation."
Nevada Republicans questioned Reid's ethics.
"Ethics is an issue with individuals; it is not a partisan issue," Nevada Republican Party Chairman Paul Adams said in a statement. "For Howard Dean to have any credibility on ethics, he must admit that Reid's behavior is part of the problem in Washington."
At the meeting attended by about 40 veterans, Dean and Reid criticized the Bush administration's handing of the war in Iraq and called Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson "incompetent."
Nicholson's agency recently lost personal information on about 26.5 million veterans when an employee's computer was stolen from his home. The deputy assistant secretary who supervised the VA data analyst who lost the information has said he would relinquish his post.
Reid called on the VA to conduct regular credit checks for all veterans to guard against fraud.
"It's the very least the federal government should do," he said.