Carter Votres For Ethics And Earmark Reform

CARTER VOTES FOR ETHICS AND EARMARK REFORM

House Conference Secretary John Carter (TX-31) today supported ethics and earmark reforms during debate of H.Res. 6, the Rules Package for the 110th Congress.

"As a former Judge, I strongly believe that integrity and accountability in Congress should be a priority. I am pleased to have supported earmark reforms that will help ensure that the federal government is spending American taxpayer dollars wisely. Bringing more transparency to how we spend money is critical to eliminating worthless pork and to bringing more fiscal responsibility to the federal government," Congressman Carter said.

In presenting the earmark reform portion of the Rules Package, Democrats included damaging PAYGO provisions that would raise taxes on Americans while Congress continues to spend. Through a motion to commit, Republicans presented an alternative earmark provision that was clean and excluded the PAYGO language.

The Republican motion to commit would have:

· Required all earmarks to be disclosed with the Member's name attached.

· Initiated a point of order against consideration of the bill or conference report if such information is not included.

Title II of the Rules Package includes ethics provisions that Congressman Carter strongly supported. Specifically, these provisions would:

· Require Members of the House of Representatives to seek prior approval from the Ethics Committee for travel funded by any private source and submit a written certification to the committee that no lobbyists are funding or in any way facilitating the trip before accepting any invitation for private travel.

· Provide mandatory ethics training to all Members, officers, and employees of the House.

The ethics and earmark reforms that Congressman Carter supported were included in H.Res. 6, which passed the House today.

http://carter.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=55049