Rep. Gillibrand Calls for House Ethics Investigation – Committee Assignment Suspension for Rep. Jefferson

Press Release

Rep. Gillibrand Calls for House Ethics Investigation - Committee Assignment Suspension for Rep. Jefferson

Local Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand today called for the House ethics committee to open a full and complete investigation into the charges regarding Congressman Bill Jefferson. She also stated she will ask Speaker Pelosi to ensure that Mr. Jefferson is denied any committee assignments until the matter is resolved.

"As a new member of Congress I believe it is of the highest importance that we restore the public's trust in their government. It is because of this, that I call on the ethics committee to open a full investigation. While an indictment is not a finding of guilt, this case will continue to undermine the public's trust in our government. During this investigation and going forward the House should pass a rule that no member of Congress under indictment should hold committee assignments."

Gillibrand added, "Our leadership must restore trust and accountability to our government - to do so, I believe that any Member of Congress under indictment should be suspended from their committee assignments and have their case referred to the ethics committee for a full investigation." Gillibrand continued, "I also renew my call for an independent ethics commission to investigate allegations of ethics violations in the House."

In her first term in Congress, Representative Gillibrand has been a leader on ethics issues and pushed her own party's leadership to develop an additional and independent ethics committee to better enforce House rules against Members of Congress.

In addition, Congresswoman Gillibrand was the first member of Congress to publicly disclose her daily schedule on-line in her Sunlight Report and is one of only a handful of members to post all her earmark requests on her Congressional web-site.

In her first two days in office, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand voted for an aggressive ethics reform package to restore public confidence and integrity in Congress.

Congresswoman Gillibrand was recently featured on Bill Moyers' show for a piece on ethics reforms in Congress. Video of that segment can be viewed here: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06012007/watch.html

Congresswoman Gillibrand's first speech in Congress detailed her commitment to ethics reform in Congress.

Source