An Ethics Process in Limbo

AN ETHICS PROCESS IN LIMBO -- (House of Representatives - March 16, 2005)

(Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the integrity of the people's House supersedes the interests of any individual Member who is privileged to serve here, of either political party.
We bear an individual duty, as well as a collective obligation, to abide by the highest ethical standards and to conduct ourselves in a manner that instills public confidence in this institution.

Yet, today, the ethics process in this House is at a standstill. Our bipartisan process to address alleged ethics violations has been stymied by a partisan roadblock that is inconsistent with the purpose and history of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

The gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan), the ranking member of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, has introduced a resolution that would remove this roadblock and restore the ethics rules that were adopted on a bipartisan basis in 1997. I urge my colleagues to support the gentleman from West Virginia's (Mr. Mollohan) resolution.

Let us restore the ethics rules that guided us for the last four Congresses. Let us ensure that our ethics process is bipartisan and commands the respect of the American people. We ought to expect no less of ourselves.

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