Establishing an Office of Congressional Ethics - Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I take a back seat to no one in this House on loving this institution.

The issue, my friends, is not whether we have respect for one another. Too often, it is demonstrable on this floor that we don't.

The issue is, Will the American people have respect for us? That is the issue. That is the critical issue that confronts us this evening. Not because any of us are pointing fingers at anybody else in this House.

But unless you were sound asleep prior to the last election, unless you were living in another country in another land in another time, you know what the people thought about this, the people's House that we love. That, my friends, is why we are in the majority, because the people thought changes were necessary in this House.

The people asked for change. They asked for accountability. There have been some things said on this House floor that are not accurate. Mr. Tiahrt said that Ms. Pelosi, the Speaker, and Mr. Boehner, the minority leader, would make independent appointments to this.

Mr. Capuano changed that as a result of the suggestions of these Members. It was a good change because it meant that Mr. Boehner and Ms. Pelosi are going to have to agree on six people.

It has been said on this House just now that this replaces the Ethics Committee. It absolutely does not. Does it complement it? I think it does, but it does not replace it. Nor does it substitute its judgment for the Ethics Committee.

The Ethics Committee can continue to operate as it does now and can initiate, it does not need to wait on this committee. It can initiate the defense of the ethics of this House, 435 of us elected by our neighbors and friends. We are all sad when one of us comes short of the expectations of our constituents, as we should, because we know only too well, those of us who have served for significant periods of time in the public's fear, that the acts of each of us is often attributed to the rest of us.

There needs to be a confidence level among the American people in the people's House. How are they going to have that confidence? I suggest to you that it is my belief, as one who is not for many of the things that the so-called groups are for, who think that it is going to change, it will not change, many times, the substance of what we deal with.

I happen to have come to the conclusion that this proposal that Mr. Capuano and others have made, and I regret the fact that this is not a bipartisan proposal. One of my best friends in life, not just that served here in this House, is Senator BEN CARDIN. Many of you know how close he and I are. He and Bob Livingston worked on the last mEstablishing an Office of Congressional Ethics - Continuedajor ethics reform together and came together in a bipartisan fashion.

I am one who works in a bipartisan fashion. Ask Bob Ney and the Help America Vote Act. Ask Steve Bartlett on the Americans with Disabilities Act. I believe in operating that way. I wish this were a bipartisan product.

If we had the vote on the Republican alternative, I would vote against it. Why would I vote against it? Because it has within its framework submitting to the Justice Department after 45 days a complaint that the Ethics Committee has not dealt with. I don't think that is appropriate for a violation of the rules. It should be within the bosom of this body. This proposal copies it there.

This does not give subpoena power to people to go on fishing expeditions. It gives to six people, selected jointly by Mr. Boehner and Speaker Pelosi, who I hope and believe that they will agree upon people of very high integrity and good common sense. Because when they say, and somebody comes along and says in a press conference, STENY HOYER has violated the rules, none of us can protect ourselves against that. That's the business we are in. We are all targets and we are all vulnerable.

But it is my belief that this body will be composed of the kinds of people that I think Speaker Pelosi and Mr. Boehner will appoint, and not Members.

I am a lawyer. I will tell you, the public is not too convinced that lawyers are good at self-regulation. Some of you are doctors. The public is not particularly convinced that doctors are good self-regulators, or CPAs or other professions.

That's what we are talking about. We are talking about to the American public we do act properly, we do keep the faith. We are honest, and we are prepared to answer for our conduct and give confidence to you, the American people, that it is the people's House, not our House, the people's House.

I suggest to you, my friends, that whatever can happen, whatever could happen, whatever scenario you fear can happen right now with the existing process, all this does, it adds a complementary body, hopefully, and I believe, of citizens of very high repute who will, in turn, be able to say to the American public, yes, this group of Americans is honest, hardworking, and serving you well.

Are there, from time to time, exceptions? There are. But let us have the confidence to tell to the American people our conduct is, and we want it to be, above reproach, and we do not fear the oversight and accountability that this proposal suggests. I urge my colleagues, have confidence in those that Mr. Boehner and Ms. Pelosi will appoint. Have confidence in yourselves and in your colleagues, and let us this night give confidence to our constituents and the American people.

Vote for this proposal.

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