CREW SENDS LETTER TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE URGING STRONG ETHICS REFORM
July Looks Slow For Ethics Panel
SOURCE: Jennifer Yachnin // Roll Call
4 Jun 2008 // Although the new Office of Congressional Ethics is permitted to begin work as early as July, it appears unlikely the independent office will undertake any investigations in coming weeks as it remains without board members, staff or even office space.
Rep. Abercrombie questions ethics of ethics bill handling
SOURCE: Susan Crabtree // The Hill
2 May 2008 // Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) is challenging actions by his Democratic leaders and plans to ask the ethics committee to determine whether House rules were broken during a recent ethics vote.
“That was a violation of our own rules,” he said. “You’ve got to be very careful when you start telling people you’re better than they are.”
Ethics Law Isn’t Without Its Loopholes
SOURCE: Robert Pear // The New York Times
21 Apr 2008 // The optimistically named Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 was supposed to prevent lobbyists from securing undue influence by taking members of Congress to intimate dinners at fancy restaurants.
Editorial: House ethics or subterfuge?
SOURCE: Paul M. Weyrich // The Washington Times
17 Mar 2008 // Last year the House of Representatives passed legislation intended to govern the political behavior of its members by implementing tighter ethics regulations. The rules were meant to correct the corruption that has been prominent among members for much of the past eight years.
House OKs independent ethics board
SOURCE: Matt Kelley // USA Today
14 Mar 2008 // An independent ethics board created by the House of Representatives this week is meant to put some teeth into a self-policing process that has been all-but-dormant for years.
The new Office of Congressional Ethics is the first independent body with the power to launch ethics investigations against representatives and their staffers.
Space pushed subpoena power
SOURCE: Jonathan Riskind // Columbus Dispatch
13 Mar 2008 // A new independent ethics panel approved late Tuesday by the U.S. House is nothing more than a "paper tiger" that lacks subpoena power, charges a congressional watchdog group.
Pelosi Gets Reform Bill While GOPers and Some Dems Kick and Scream
SOURCE: Paul Kiel // TPM Muckraker
12 Mar 2008 // Last night, the House passed an ethics reform bill, which will create an outside panel to review ethics complaints against lawmakers. It's a noted improvement over the current setup -- which isn't saying much since the House ethics committee has been a punchline for many years.
House approves ethics measure
SOURCE: Susan Crabtree // The Hill
12 Mar 2008 // The House voted Tuesday night to impose a new layer of outside ethics scrutiny on itself after two weeks of open rancor on both sides of the aisle and more than a year of wrangling over the proposal.
Related News Stories:
- Editorial: Democrats’ Ethics Proposal Is Full of Fatal Flaws
- Revised Ethics Plan Unveiled
- Group Will Run Ads Backing Rules Change
- Tough cop role taken by Senate on ethics issue
- Democrats Again Postpone Vote on Ethics Bill
CREW CALLS INDEPENDENT ETHICS OFFICE A PAPER TIGER
11 Mar 2008 // Washington, DC - In response to the ethics bill passed late tonight by the House of Representatives, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) executive director Melanie Sloan released the following statement:
"We are skeptical of the latest so-called ethics reform measure. Given the pathetic performance of the Ethics Committee over the past decade we have advocated for the creation of a new, independent ethics office. More»
House Democrats prepare for ethics vote
SOURCE: Susan Crabtree // The Hill
10 Mar 2008 // House Democratic leaders are prepared to move forward with a vote on an independent ethics office Tuesday amid continuing rancor in their caucus over giving non-lawmakers power to investigate members.
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