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Ending Congressional Corruption
Madam Speaker,
Last November, voters charged a new Congressional majority with a clear mandate: End the scandals. Drain the swamp. Clean up Congress.
At first, the Democratic majority embraced the voters’ charge. We passed an ethics reform package that banned Members from accepting gifts from lobbyists. We blocked representatives from flying on corporate jets. And we prevented Congressmen from pressuring private businesses to hire or fire for political reasons.
Now, the time has come for another step, and our actions in the next days will determine the strength of our resolve. Did we mean it last November when we said we’d change Congress, or were our words just election-year slogans?
If we meant what we said, then it’s clear what must happen next. First, the House Ethics Committee must launch investigations into public reports of Congressional corruption, including accusations that Mr. William Jefferson committed crimes such as racketeering, soliciting bribes, and money-laundering. The Committee must investigate. No excuses, and no delays. And if the Ethics Committee proves unable to complete this, its most basic responsibility, then Congress must create a more independent ethics committee, capable of the initiative and oversight that the American people deserve.
But that isn’t enough. Although Mr. Jefferson should and must enjoy the presumption of innocence granted to all American defendants, as a Member of Congress, he has a special pact with the American people. Yet if Mr. Jefferson left Congress today, even if he were to resign today – as I know many of us wish that he would – then tomorrow he will be begin drawing a federal pension for his service in Congress. According to the National Taxpayers Union, that pension will exceed $40,000 a year.
This is – and I mean this word literally – an outrage. Taxpayers should not fund the pensions of Members of Congress who resign in disgrace, and Congress has a responsibility to end this state of affairs. We must strip the pensions of any Member of Congress who commits a major federal crime while in office.
I authored a bill, the Pensions Forfeiture Act, to do precisely that, and it passed the House of Representatives earlier this year. A similar bill has passed the Senate, and now it must be sent to this floor as a reconciled bill that we can finally send to the President.
Let’s not permit committee delays or needless procedure to interfere one more day with real, meaningful ethics reform. Let’s pass the Pensions Forfeiture Act into law. And what’s more, let’s stop the revolving door of representatives turning into lobbyists. Let’s establish an independent ethics commission. Let’s begin to rebuild the trust of the American people.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Last November, voters charged a new Congressional majority with a clear mandate: End the scandals. Drain the swamp. Clean up Congress.
At first, the Democratic majority embraced the voters’ charge. We passed an ethics reform package that banned Members from accepting gifts from lobbyists. We blocked representatives from flying on corporate jets. And we prevented Congressmen from pressuring private businesses to hire or fire for political reasons.
Now, the time has come for another step, and our actions in the next days will determine the strength of our resolve. Did we mean it last November when we said we’d change Congress, or were our words just election-year slogans?
If we meant what we said, then it’s clear what must happen next. First, the House Ethics Committee must launch investigations into public reports of Congressional corruption, including accusations that Mr. William Jefferson committed crimes such as racketeering, soliciting bribes, and money-laundering. The Committee must investigate. No excuses, and no delays. And if the Ethics Committee proves unable to complete this, its most basic responsibility, then Congress must create a more independent ethics committee, capable of the initiative and oversight that the American people deserve.
But that isn’t enough. Although Mr. Jefferson should and must enjoy the presumption of innocence granted to all American defendants, as a Member of Congress, he has a special pact with the American people. Yet if Mr. Jefferson left Congress today, even if he were to resign today – as I know many of us wish that he would – then tomorrow he will be begin drawing a federal pension for his service in Congress. According to the National Taxpayers Union, that pension will exceed $40,000 a year.
This is – and I mean this word literally – an outrage. Taxpayers should not fund the pensions of Members of Congress who resign in disgrace, and Congress has a responsibility to end this state of affairs. We must strip the pensions of any Member of Congress who commits a major federal crime while in office.
I authored a bill, the Pensions Forfeiture Act, to do precisely that, and it passed the House of Representatives earlier this year. A similar bill has passed the Senate, and now it must be sent to this floor as a reconciled bill that we can finally send to the President.
Let’s not permit committee delays or needless procedure to interfere one more day with real, meaningful ethics reform. Let’s pass the Pensions Forfeiture Act into law. And what’s more, let’s stop the revolving door of representatives turning into lobbyists. Let’s establish an independent ethics commission. Let’s begin to rebuild the trust of the American people.
I yield back the balance of my time.