Statement of Gary
Kalman
Director of U.S. PIRG’s
Federal Legislative Office
The
House of Representatives voted tonight to establish an independent Office of
Congressional Ethics.
This
vote was about going beyond the easy rhetoric of reform and taking a concrete
step to correct what has been a dysfunctional ethics process. We now have an
opportunity to get past the recent failures of the House to ensure honest
representation on behalf of the American people. It represents a meaningful
step toward fixing the broken and discredited ethics enforcement
process.
The
problem of ethics enforcement in Congress can not be fixed by simply calling
upon the party leaders to ‘expect it to work’ as was suggested during the floor
debate. The existing system is fatally flawed. The public has long since lost
faith in the integrity of the institution. The creation of the new Office
strikes at the status quo and establishes an independent and open process that
will lead to greater accountability.
Tonight, the House leadership made good on their
commitments to the public to aggressively work for changes that will rein in the
ethical abuses we have witnessed in the past few years. U.S. PIRG applauds all
of those who voted in support of new ethics enforcement. We especially
recognize the extraordinary efforts of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Task Force
Chairman and bill sponsor Michael Capuano (D-MA), both who fought tirelessly to
ensure meaningful reform.
