Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to Reinstate Certian Provisions of the Rules Relating to Procedures of the Committee on Standards
AMENDING THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO REINSTATE CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE RULES RELATING TO PROCEDURES OF THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT TO THE FORM IN WHICH THOSE PROVISIONS EXISTED AT THE CLOSE OF THE 108th CONGRESS -- (House of Representatives - April 27, 2005)
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time.
I would observe at the outset that if the arguments propounded by the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) and the distinguished chairman of the Ethics Committee, which they have made repeatedly over the last 4 months, were agreed to by the American public, we would not be here today. But those arguments were rejected.
A vote on this important legislation which will restore the bipartisan ethics rules that were originally adopted in 1997 and which functioned well in every Congress since then is long overdue. And I believe that it was inevitable.
Today is not a day for those of us on the Democrat side of the aisle to gloat. However, it is a day for those who instigated and supported these partisan rules changes in January to recognize that a serious mistake in judgment was made. That does not seem to be the case.
The gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Hefley) will observe, as he has in the past, that this is the first time, and I have served here for 24 years, the first time that the rules of the Ethics Committee were changed in a partisan action. As the former chairman, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Hefley) stated 2 weeks ago, ``We can't make rule changes unilaterally.'' We've never made rules for the Ethics Committee ``unilaterally.'' ``The way it was done was wrong.''
Today the Speaker recognizes the validity of that statement and seeks to rectify this error. It is a good step. However, let me say as clearly as I can, this legislation marks a beginning, not an ending. It is in reality a procedural prerequisite to a real, meaningful ethics process that ensures the American people of the integrity of this great institution. Surely every one of us wants that to be the reality.
In the last several months a great number of issues have become public that warrant an inquiry by the Ethics Committee. The press has asked me numerous times over the last 3 months, Are you going to file a complaint? And I have said, No, I am not going to file a complaint. And the reason I am not going to file a complaint is because I believe it is the responsibility of the Ethics Committee, particularly when ethics questions are raised in the public arena, that the Ethics Committee address those issues so that the public's confidence can be kept intact.
It is imperative now that the committee organize as soon as practicable so that it may conduct its important business. Let me also urge the chairman and the ranking member to honor the letter and the intent of the 1997 rules package by agreeing to hire a nonpartisan professional staff. I say that because the chairman indicated that he was going to treat this like any other committee and install his chief of staff.
His chief of staff, I am sure, has high integrity and great ability. I do not question that at all. But it is incumbent upon us to make sure that both sides have confidence in the leadership of this staff as was intended by the rules.
Mr. Speaker, the Ethics Committee is the only mechanism that this institution has to police itself. Today we have taken a vital step in restoring procedural vitality to our ethics process and ensuring public confidence in this institution. I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill.
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