LIEBERMAN SALUTES NEW HOUSE ETHICS ENFORCEMENT

LIEBERMAN SALUTES NEW HOUSE ETHICS ENFORCEMENT

The following press release was published by the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on March 12, 2008. It is reproduced in full below.

WASHINGTON - Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., Wednesday commended Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House for enacting a new, independent system for initiating investigations into potential violations of House ethics rules. “Speaker Pelosi and the House should be heralded for their courage for bringing a measure of independence to enforcement of House ethics rules," Lieberman said. While the new Office of Congressional Ethics will not have subpoena power, as I advocated in an amendment last year to establish a Senate Office of Public Integrity, the new House ethics review process will be a significant improvement over the old system of insulated self-regulation. I hope the House vote will embolden my Senate colleagues to reconsider the creation of a Senate Office of Public Integrity." In 2007, Lieberman and Senators Susan Collins, R-Me., Barack Obama, D-Ill., and John McCain, R-Ariz., offered an amendment to S. 1 the Senate Lobbying and Ethics Reform bill that would have established an independent Office of Public Integrity to conduct the preliminary stage of a Senate ethics complaint. The amendment was rejected.

Source: U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

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