[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 184 (Wednesday, December 11, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H6808-H6809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      HOLDING THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO A HIGHER ETHICAL STANDARD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Casten) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, last week the Speaker of the House and the 
majority leader said that the report into serious allegations of 
misconduct by former Representative Matt Gaetz was ``moot'' because he 
had resigned from Congress.
  I rise today to remind my colleagues of four names and 4 years: 1987, 
Bill Boner; 1990, Don Lukens; 2006, Mark Foley; 2011, Eric Massa.
  Those are four Members of Congress, spanning each of the last four 
decades: two Democrats, two Republicans. All four of them resigned from 
their seats while under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. 
Allegations against these Members included acceptance of bribes; 
sharing inappropriate, sexually explicit images; and sex with a minor 
child.
  In all of those cases, the work of the Ethics Committee continued 
even after their resignation. In three of the four cases, the report of 
the Ethics Committee was released to the public.
  In none of those cases did anyone have the gall to declare those 
reports to be moot.
  Now, in 2024, another Representative has resigned while he was under 
investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegations, including 
acceptance of bribes; sharing of inappropriate, sexually explicit 
images; and sex with a minor child. Mr. Gaetz is also alleged to have 
engaged in illicit drug use.
  We all understand that even the allegation of such activities being 
committed by one of us cheapens this whole institution. We also all 
respect the traditions of this House. While they may sometimes need 
reform, we tread carefully before setting any new precedents.
  We find ourselves with a tradition going back at least four decades 
that Members of the House who are under investigation by the Ethics 
Committee for these sorts of allegations cannot prevent that 
information from becoming public simply by resigning from their seat, 
yet that is exactly the precedent that the majority voted to upend last 
week when they voted to kill the resolution to compel the release of 
the Ethics Committee report on Mr. Gaetz.
  Every Member of this body now needs to ask themselves if they believe 
that the precedent of this House holding itself and its Members to a 
higher ethical standard is one worth keeping.
  They need to ask themselves if they believe that even if you resign 
from this body, future employers, whether in the public or private 
sector, should know if you can be trusted to represent their 
institutions with dignity and honor, can be trusted with their 
financial resources, can be trusted around underage children.
  Make no mistake: Everyone who voted against the release of the report 
last week was saying that, no, the time has come for a new precedent 
where the rules no longer apply to us; where from this day forth, the 
Republican majority shall loudly proclaim: What happens in D.C. stays 
in D.C.
  As our friend and former colleague Elijah Cummings would have 
reminded us, we are better than this.
  Upholding precedents and maintaining the integrity of this House is 
not moot.

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