[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2017]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        AMENDMENT NO. 71 TO S. 1

  Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, as I have mentioned before, 
last year Washington was rocked by the Abramoff scandal and other 
misdeeds. I am pleased that Congress has shown it is taking seriously 
its responsibility to the American people by revisiting and tightening 
the rules and laws that govern Members of the Senate. Many have said 
that S.1, which overwhelmingly passed out of the Senate last week, 
includes the most sweeping ethics reform measures since Watergate.
  There is one point that I discussed and pushed forward during last 
year's debate that I believe needs to again be part of what we are 
doing now. Last year I offered a sense-of-the-Senate amendment to make 
many of the reforms we have considered throughout this ethics debate 
apply to all branches of Government. I am pleased that this sense of 
the Senate was accepted and is included in the underlying bill.
  During the debate last week, I filed an amendment, No. 71, which 
builds upon the principle behind this sense of the Senate--that the 
standards employed in this bill should be the minimum standards that 
guide the other branches of Government. I thought this was a good 
amendment--in fact, a necessary amendment--that ought to be accepted 
into this bill. Unfortunately, that did not happen. I have spoken with 
some of my colleagues and understand that though there is general 
support for the principle that ethics standards in the executive branch 
should be as stringent as those made applicable by this bill, some of 
my colleagues believe the provisions of this amendment warrant further 
evaluation. Though I am disappointed this amendment will not be 
included on this bill, I respect and appreciate the importance and 
value of committee evaluation and will look forward to working on this 
issue as that committee process proceeds.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. I would like to thank my friend and colleague from 
Nebraska for bringing this amendment and important issue forward. The 
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has 
jurisdiction over these issues which impact the executive branch. As 
chairman of that committee, I can appreciate that this amendment 
warrants more thorough evaluation and deliberation. Later this year, 
the committee will consider the reauthorization of the Office of 
Government Ethics--the executive branch's ethics arm. I look forward to 
working with my friend from Nebraska on the issue throughout the year 
and as we consider this reauthorization and other matters.
  Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I thank my good friend from Connecticut. I 
appreciate his thoughtfulness in this debate, and I look forward to 
discussing it further as his committee proceeds this year.

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