Ethics Reform

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I rise in strong support of the rules package. Trust is a fragile thing. It is difficult to win, but easy to lose&It; finds its hold on promises kept and honesty sustained and unquestionable integrity. As the representative from the thirteenth district of Ohio, I am honored to rise on this historic day to speak for the first time on the floor of the people's house. And in so rising I am proud that I do so to keep the faith with the people who sent me here to serve. With our actions today, on this first day of the reform Congress, we begin to fulfill the awesome responsibility entrusted to us by the American people. We have heard the call for change. And it shall be heeded. Today we sever the links between those who would buy influence on Capitol Hill and those who would willingly sell it. We act to clean up the corruption which has eroded the public trust and resulted in far too many policies that benefit the well connected and privileged few at the expense of the greater good. Title Two of our rules package does just this. We end the K Street project, which took the peddling of access and influence to soaring new heights. We act to eradicate the cronyism and corruption. We cut off the gifts, the perks, and the travel wielded by special interests. We take the darkest inner workings of government and sanitize them with the light of day. We will work to adopt this set of anti-corruption reforms to dismantle the dark corridors and backrooms and avenues to abuse that have allowed corruption to grow and flourish. We will beat back the culture and abuses that have hurt the American people-both in policy and in spirit. Today we heed the call to put a halt to the corruption that has tarnished the people's house. Trust is a fragile, sacred thing and we in this new 110th Congress will protect it with all the power of our office.