[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 32 (Wednesday, March 16, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H1513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                       AN ETHICS PROCESS IN LIMBO

  (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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