Statement
of Gary Kalman
Director
of WISPIRG’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.
