Disband Ethics Committee and Start Over
Disband Ethics Committee and Start Over
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland delivered the following speech on the House floor today, calling for the House to disband the Committee on Standards and Conduct and reappoint the panel with members dedicated to forging bipartisan consensus so that the committee can begin work on the cases before it. As a last-ditch effort, Westmoreland would support temporarily installing a Republican majority on the committee.
Mr. Speaker,
In fairness to members of this body who've been subjected to a cloud of suspicion over ethics allegations, I rise today to call for the House to disband the current Committee on Standards and Conduct and reconstitute it as a panel that can convene and hear the cases pending before it.
A report in the Washington Post today says the committee may be inactive for months and it may not take up politically charged accusations against a high-ranking leader until next year - which just happens to be an election year.
The Post says "Democrats are hoping to gain political advantage from investigations into [Tom] DeLay's activities and overseas travel and his ties to lobbyist Jack Abrahamoff."
Even the Democrat-friendly Washington Post sees the political calculations behind the minority's tactics.
The Ethics Committee is stalled by a partisan logjam and I see only one way to unplug it: reconstitute the panel with members resolved to work together so that it can move forward with its work.
If this good-faith effort fails again, the House needs to install a Republican majority on the committee so that the wheels of good government can turn once more.
Mr. Speaker, this body rescinded the ethics rules passed earlier this Congress to appease the minority's demands. Yet, the minority party continues to obstruct the objectives of the Ethics Committee at every turn.
I believe a Republican majority on the committee can and will act fairly to hear the pending cases before it - cases that involve both Republicans and Democrats.
Members accused of violations deserve a chance to make their cases and perhaps clear their names.
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ga08_westmoreland/ethics0609.html