[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 31, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H9056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H9056]]
                             ETHICS REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Space) is recognized 
during morning-hour debate for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SPACE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask support for the Honest 
Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007. I hail from Ohio's 18th 
Congressional District, a district of proud, hardworking people who 
understand the virtues of personal responsibility, a district whose 
constituency was betrayed in years past by a Member of this body who 
crossed a line. My predecessor is now in prison and he has been 
imprisoned for having, once again, betrayed his constituents and sold 
his vote. He became mired in and then consumed by a scandal involving 
lobbyists. This legislation helps further break the link that exists 
between lobbyists, legislators and the wealthy clients that lobbyists 
represent. It represents yet another positive step forward. It's not 
the end. It represents more of the beginning of a process whereby 
bribery will become deinstitutionalized from this body. It represents a 
process whereby we can make decisions in this body on an informed, 
rational basis designed specifically to benefit the good people who put 
us here.
  Early on in this Congress, we banned trips and gifts and meals from 
lobbyists, a good first step. Now we are bringing transparency to the 
system. But it can't stop here. My colleague from Connecticut raises 
the prospect of an independent organization to review potential 
breaches of law, something that I associate myself with, but we need 
yet to go beyond even that with aggressive and comprehensive campaign 
finance reform. I support this measure because I think it represents a 
good first step along that process, but again I urge my colleagues to 
give serious consideration to taking it yet farther, and that is again 
with the deinstitutionalization of bribery through comprehensive 
campaign finance reform.

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