[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7127-7129]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         ETHICS COMMITTEE REPORT ON FORMER SENATOR JOHN ENSIGN

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, yesterday the Senate Ethics Committee 
voted unanimously to release the special counsel's report regarding the 
actions of former Senator John Ensign.
  The committee also voted unanimously to refer several findings to the 
Department of Justice and to the Federal Election Commission because we 
had reason to believe that Senator Ensign violated laws within their 
jurisdiction. I want to thank from the bottom of my heart the Senators 
who participated in this investigation, many of whom are on the floor 
today: my vice chairman, the extraordinary leader, Senator Isakson--and 
I say leader, I mean a leader on the committee. I consider him to be a 
cochair with me. And Senator Roberts, who has been on this committee 
for a long time, who has a sense of history, and a sense of levity, and 
pragmatism. I appreciated his cooperation.
  I want to note the participation of Sherrod Brown, who came on this 
committee and began this journey with us and his very important 
contribution; Senator Risch, who brought with him a very strong legal 
slant on everything we did and was very valuable. I want to thank him.
  I want to say a special word of thanks to Senator Cardin who sat in 
on this case because Senator Pryor felt he had too close a relationship 
with Senator Ensign and had to recuse himself. Senator Cardin, we thank 
you so much for coming in and focusing on this case. I have to say, I 
am so grateful to how thoroughly and hard and collaboratively we all 
worked during this 22-month investigation. I say--and I mean--it was an 
honor to work with my colleagues.
  The Ethics Committee is unique. Its staff is nonpartisan, and its 
actions are bipartisan. That is so important always, but particularly 
during these very polarized times, and also because this was such a 
long and difficult investigation for many reasons.
  I want to be clear about why the committee is releasing its report to 
the public and why Senator Isakson and I are addressing the Senate 
today. If any of our colleagues wish to add to our comments, I hope 
they will do so. While Senator Ensign's resignation ended our 
investigation before the next phase, which was the adjudicatory phase 
or the trial phase, it did not end our profound responsibilities to the 
Senate, to our laws, to our rules, to our Constitution, and, of course, 
to the American people.
  Article 1, section 5, clause 2 of the Constitution of the United 
States says that: ``each House may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the 
concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.'' That is in the 
Constitution.
  Senate rules give the Ethics Committee responsibility to investigate 
alleged violations of laws and rules and ``improper conduct which may 
reflect upon the Senate.'' That is a quote from our rules.
  Finally, Ethics Committee rules make clear that whenever its members 
have ``reason to believe'' that a violation of law has occurred, we 
``shall'' report it to the proper authorities.
  Let me say that again. Ethics Committee rules make it clear that 
whenever the members of the committee have reason to believe that a 
violation of law has occurred, we shall report it to the proper 
authorities. So we have a solemn responsibility indeed. It is actually 
a mandate to refer possible criminal or civil violations to the 
Department of Justice and to the Federal Election Commission. That is 
what we have done today.
  We also have another responsibility. That is to tell the American 
people when we believe laws and rules have been broken, and that 
standards of conduct have been breached. That is what we have done 
today.
  Our special counsel, Carol Elder Bruce, has written a report that 
speaks in great detail about her findings, and that report has been 
released today. These findings are so disturbing that she believed that 
had Senator Ensign not resigned, and had we been able to proceed to 
that adjudicatory phase, the evidence of Senator Ensign's wrongdoing 
would have been substantial enough to warrant the consideration of 
expulsion, the harshest penalty available to the Ethics Committee and 
the Senate.
  That is why when former Senator Ensign resigned, the vice chairman 
and I put out a statement, and we said that he had made ``the 
appropriate decision.''
  I want to give you the findings of the special counsel.
  One. There is substantial credible evidence that Senator Ensign 
conspired to violate Doug Hampton's postemployment contact ban.
  Two. There is substantial credible evidence that Senator Ensign aided 
and abetted Mr. Hampton's violations of the postemployment contact ban.
  Three. There is substantial credible evidence that Senator Ensign 
made false and misleading statements to the Federal Election Commission 
regarding the $96,000 payment made to the Hamptons.
  Four. There is substantial credible evidence that the $96,000 payment 
to Mr. Hampton violated Federal campaign finance laws.
  Five. There is substantial credible evidence that Senator Ensign 
violated a law and a Senate rule prohibiting unofficial office 
accounts.
  Six. There is substantial credible evidence that Senator Ensign 
permitted spoliation of documents and engaged in potential obstruction 
of justice.
  Seven. There is substantial credible evidence that Senator Ensign 
discriminated on the basis of gender.
  Eight. There is substantial credible evidence that Senator Ensign 
engaged in improper conduct reflecting on the Senate, including 
violating his own office policies, written in a manual.
  These eight serious findings in the special counsel's report are the 
culmination of an extensive 22-month investigation and the basis for 
the committee's unanimous decision to refer this matter to the 
Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission.
  As Chair of the Senate Ethics Committee, I am proud to report to the 
Senate that our committee and its staff and special counsel have been 
fair and thorough. We deposed or interviewed 72 witnesses. We issued 32 
subpoenas for documents. We reviewed more than one-half million 
documents, including a large number that were initially withheld from 
the committee. None of this would have been possible without the very 
hard work done by the staff of our committee, our personal offices--and 
I am so grateful to them--the special counsel who was extraordinary and 
to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude.
  I particularly wish to thank the staff director and the chief counsel 
of the Ethics Committee, John Sassaman, and his team. They were focused 
and they searched for the truth, and we believe they found the truth.
  Again, I also wish to personally thank our special counsel, Carol 
Elder Bruce, and her team.
  Our Founders gave Congress the responsibility to ensure that its 
Members behave ethically. The Ethics Committee tries to do this by 
working to prevent violations of rules and laws when possible. We try 
to work with colleagues before they do something they

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shouldn't do. We try to train colleagues so they understand what we 
mean when we say don't bring any kind of shame upon the Senate. Then, 
if something bad happens, we give a fair hearing, we might sanction 
them, and we do when necessary. This isn't an easy task, but every 
member of the Ethics Committee is committed to fulfilling our critical 
responsibility in a thorough, fair, and bipartisan fashion.
  When Senator Ensign resigned, he said: ``I have not violated any law, 
any rule, or standard of conduct.'' I wish to go on record as chairman 
of the Ethics Committee to say how strongly I disagree with that 
statement.
  Let's be clear. It was Senator Ensign's actions that led to the 
ethics complaint filed against him. It was Senator Ensign's actions 
that led to a 22-month investigation by the Ethics Committee. It was 
Senator Ensign's actions that led to the very serious findings and 
referrals in the report we are releasing to the public today.
  The committee believes every Senator should read this report very 
carefully. Let me say that again. The committee believes every Senator 
should read this report very carefully because it is a cautionary tale. 
It shows that our actions--all of them--have consequences for 
ourselves, for our families, for our staffs, for Congress, and for our 
Nation. It shows we must ensure every action we take is within the law, 
the rules, and the appropriate standards of conduct. In my view, if I 
can say my own personal view, it shows something else; that is, when 
you are in a position of trust and power, don't abuse it. Don't misuse 
it because people can get hurt, very hurt.
  We cannot violate the laws or rules we set for others, including our 
own staffs. We must always lead by example, not by words alone.
  This Ensign case was a sad chapter for the Senate but a far sadder 
chapter for those whose lives were affected and destroyed by his 
actions. I wish to thank the Senate for placing its trust in the Ethics 
Committee.
  I yield to the vice chairman of the committee, the one whom I 
consider my cochairman, Senator Isakson.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
  Mr. President, on certain occasions in the life of a public official 
one is called upon to make difficult and unpleasant decisions. Such is 
the case for the six members of the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee today. 
But we recognize it is essential that the institution--this Senate--
that passes the laws which all our citizens must live under must also 
enforce those laws and rules of standards and conduct which we impose 
upon ourselves. It is a solemn responsibility, but it is important to 
the integrity and the future of this institution.
  The Senate Ethics Committee looks upon itself as an advisory board 
and a source of information and counsel to our Members. We ask Members 
to come to us when there are questions about the potential ethical 
violation of a decision or even something that might, in passing, seem 
to be trivial. Our job is to make sure everybody who has a question 
gets an answer and no one unwillingly gets caught in an unethical 
situation. But it is also our responsibility, when complaints are 
filed, to follow up on those complaints and, if we find merit in the 
complaint, to enter an initial investigatory period of time which, if 
that position bears enough likelihood that a violation has occurred, 
ultimately goes to an adjudicatory phase and then finally a decision on 
the floor of the Senate. It is rare, and I can tell my colleagues 
personally it is a situation I hope I am never involved in again. But, 
as I said, it is an essential process to the integrity of this body.
  When the particular complaint in question in the Ensign case came to 
us, it was, similar to any other case, reviewed initially to determine 
whether it even merited an investigation. After the initial review 
determined it did merit an investigation, the Senate staff did an 
overwhelming and wonderful job of gathering information, evidence, and 
testimony to help us get to a position to begin to make a decision as 
to whether we could go further in the case. But we didn't rely just on 
ourselves. We sought forensic experts and computers and technology so 
the over 500,000 documents that were reviewed and cross-referenced had 
a forensic test to them and we knew what we were dealing with and how 
it was dealt with. We even hired a special counsel, which is rare for 
the Senate Ethics Committee to do, but it was essential because of 
where the evidence and the testimony was leading the committee.
  I wish to say, at this point in time, I have known a lot of lawyers 
in my day, ones I have hired and ones I have been on the other side of 
the deposition table from. I have never known anybody more professional 
or whose ability I admired more than Carol Elder Bruce, and I wish to 
commend her on the floor of the Senate. It was her report which we are 
also submitting with the referrals today to indicate that we have 
looked to see that there was reasonable evidence to conclude that a 
violation may have occurred. The ultimate decision on that will be up 
to the U.S. Department of Justice and it will be up to the Federal 
Election Commission. But the report clearly indicates that the Senate 
Ethics Committee did not act on what it thought or an opinion or a 
whim. It acted on facts determined through hundreds of interviews, 
500,000 documents that were examined, and testimony that came to our 
committee.
  It is the hope of the chairman and myself and each member of the 
committee that every Member recognizes the Senate Ethics Committee 
wants to be a source of information, advice, and counsel, to see to it 
this institution always rises to the occasion as the most ethical body 
in our government. But we will as a committee, if it becomes necessary 
and the evidence finds it to be true, pursue our responsibility as a 
committee and we will do what is required of us in this body.
  I wish to thank Chairman Boxer for the method in which she has 
handled this from the beginning to the end, as well as Laura Schiller, 
who has been her aide throughout and helpful. I also wish to commend 
Joan Kirchner, Chris Carr, and Glee Smith on my staff for their 
tireless efforts. The members of the committee also should be commended 
for their hard work, and it has been hard work. Ben Cardin has been a 
tremendous legal mind for us. Sherrod Brown has been an insightful 
person to ferret out information and guide us in the right direction. 
My dear friend, Senator Roberts, is the dean of the members of the 
Ethics Committee. On the floor are Senator Roberts, Senator Cardin, and 
Senator Brown. Senator Risch from Idaho is not here, but he deserves 
equal credit. As the chairman said, his legal mind and insightful 
nature helped us come to the conclusions we came to today.
  I wish to repeat my thanks to Carol Elder Bruce for the tremendous 
work she did, as well as Brian Stolarz, Mike Missal, and John 
Longstreth, who all worked with her legal team. The staff of the Ethics 
Committee, our staff director, John Sassaman, has been invaluable in 
his tireless hours of work to see to it that every I was dotted, every 
T was crossed, and the committee did its job. To Rochelle Ford, Lynn 
Tran, Bill Corcoran, and Dan Schwager, thanks to them for all the 
effort they made.
  I will end where I began. No one in public office volunteers for the 
type of responsibilities we have had in the case of Senator Ensign. But 
all of us took that responsibility when it came upon us, recognizing 
the integrity of the Senate and the integrity of our decision was 
important for the future of this body. As sad as the deliberations were 
and the ultimate result was, it was proof that this Senate and its 
Ethics Committee can stand and do the effort necessary to see to it 
this institution's integrity proceeds in the future uninhibited and 
unendangered.
  With that, unless there is a Member who wishes to speak, I note the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.

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  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. McCaskill). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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