Duckworth - House Ethics Committee
Duckworth - House Ethics Committee
Sixth District congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth said today that repeated allegations of wrongdoing by members of Congress-- including allegations that a senior Democrat accepted more than $100,000 in bribes-- demonstrate that a new independent ethics office is needed to police the behavior of members of Congress and their staffs.
Recently, the House Ethics Committee announced that it would investigate Reps. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) and William Jefferson (D-La.). Jefferson's Capitol Hill office was raided this weekend, as federal agents looked for clues linking him to bribes and other wrong doing. Ney has been implicated in the scandals surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Duckworth called the allegations against Jefferson "serious and troubling."
"These allegations are proof that the current crisis of ethics on Capitol Hill is not a partisan problem- it's a systemic one," Duckworth said. "It is, however, the duty of Democrats and Republicans alike to fix this broken system. And that begins by making sure there is an effective way of policing ethics violations in Congress.
"Unfortunately, the House Ethics Committee has repeatedly failed that test," Duckworth said. "We need an independent authority - not members of Congress themselves - to enforce the standards of behavior that Americans have a right to expect from elected officials."
Throughout her campaign for Congress, Duckworth has called for reform of congressional rules after a series of recent scandals. In addition to creating a new Office of Public Integrity to replace the House Ethics Committee, she has spoken in detail about the need to prohibit travel paid for by lobbyists and to lengthen the amount of time before a retired Member can return to Congress to lobby.
Her opponent, state Sen. Peter Roskam, essentially turned over his 'proxy' on ethics reform to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Hastert was largely responsible for blocking consideration of an independent ethics oversight authority during House passage last month of a watered-down version of ethics reform that has been roundly criticized as insufficient.
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