Restoring Accountability

As elected officials, Members of Congress are entrusted by the American public to hold themselves to the highest ethical standards and to be conscientious stewards of taxpayer money.  Unfortunately, recent history has seen an unsustainable rise in the national debt and several examples of Members engaging in unethical and illegal behavior.  Since coming to Congress in January of 2007, Congressman Altmire has worked to reform the way business is done in Washington, DC.  He has voted to restore fiscal responsibility, enact landmark ethics reform, and establish an independent ethics office. Restoring Fiscal Responsibility In order to restore fiscal responsibility to Congress, Congressman Altmire voted to reinstitute pay-as-you-go budgeting to the rules of the House (H.Res. 6).  This common sense rule, which led to budget surpluses in the late 1990s, prevents the House from passing legislation that will lead to an increase in the federal deficit.  Additionally, Congressman Altmire has supported fiscally responsible Congressional Budgets for the past two years that bring the federal budget back into balance by 2012.  Enacting Landmark Ethics Reform One of Congressman Altmire’s first actions as a Member of Congress was to vote in favor of the toughest ethics rules to ever govern the House.  These rules include strict limits on gifts that Members can receive and increase transparency in the Congressional earmark process.  Congressman Altmire also supported further ethics and lobbying reforms that were included in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (S. 1), which became law on September 14, 2007.  This legislation requires increased disclosure of campaign contributions, strengthens restrictions on Members’ post congressional employment, ensures that corrupt Members’ do not receive pensions, and expands the disclosure of Members’ finances.  For more information, see [Altmire Hails Signing of Landmark Lobbying and Ethics Legislation ] Establishing an Independent Ethics Office Congressman Altmire was proud to advocate for and help pass H.Res. 895, which established an Independent Office of Congressional Ethics.  For years, good government advocates have called on Congress to establish this Independent Office which will bring more transparency to the ethics process and help ensure that the rules of the House are properly enforced.