Cardin Challenges Members Of Congress To Clean Up Ethics
Cardin Challenges Members Of Congress To Clean Up Ethics
Friday February 10, 2006
Congress Must Work for Families; Not Lobbyists
BALTIMORE - U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin charged today that "Americans have lost confidence in the moral and ethical way business is conducted in Washington" at a speech sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies.
"My first priority as a member of Congress is to represent Maryland families, not the special interests of lobbyists. All Americans have a right to a government that works and that fairly represents them. That's not happening in Washington today; we need to clean up the way Congress does business so that American families get the representation they deserve."
Rep. Cardin served on the House Ethics Committee from 1991 to 1997 during the House banking scandal and the Gingrich investigation. In 1997, he joined with Rep. Bob Livingston, R-LA in rewriting the House ethics rules, the last bipartisanship ethics reform effort to be undertaken by the House.
The Congressman emphasized three areas where change is necessary:
"First, public officials must look to themselves to set a higher example. Public integrity starts with the decisions that individual Members have to make every day. Members must ask themselves whose interests are they really representing? Second, we must raise the bar of public expectations by setting stricter ethical standards so there is no question as to what is permissible and what is not. Finally, members of Congress must be willing to hold their colleagues accountable and punish those who transgress."
He pointed out that while the Abramoff and DeLay scandals have grabbed the headlines, the underlying problem is the improper relationship between lobbyists and legislators and the failure to enact good public policy.
"The new Medicare drug bill and last year's energy bill are good examples of the failure of Congress to enact the right solutions for the problems we face. Unfortunately, the climate in Washington has a direct influence on what we are able to accomplish."
He stressed that "making these changes will not be easy. They will not happen unless the public demands individual accountability from their members of Congress."
http://www.cardin.house.gov/index.cfm?ContentID=2010&ParentID=29&SectionID=42&SectionTree=29,42&lnk=b&ItemID=1997