[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 43 (Wednesday, April 13, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H1900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ETHICAL SYSTEM OF U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my Republican 
colleagues to join me in restoring the ethical system to this Chamber.
  Currently, a member of the Republican leadership is at the center of 
a troubling array of investigations into corruption, abuse of power and 
ethics violations. Instead of being forthright and open to these 
allegations, the Republican leadership has stripped the ethical rules 
of this institution to cater and protect one of their own. By doing so, 
Republican leadership has abandoned a tradition of trust and 
transparency in this body.
  As Members of Congress, we are responsible to adhering to the ethical 
guidelines set forth by this Congress. As public servants, we must 
answer to the American public, and while we craft the law, we are not 
above the law.
  I urge my colleagues to answer the concerns of the American public 
and remove the question of any possible ethics violations that tarnish 
the reputation of this Chamber. Democrats want to restore strong, 
bipartisan ethics rules. It is time Republicans join us in passing the 
Mollohan resolution and restore the ethical system and the integrity it 
upholds in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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