Washington, DC ­– This week, local Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand voted to strengthen House ethics rules by creating the Office of Congressional Ethics, which will establish an independent committee, comprised of individuals who are not Members of Congress, to review alleged ethics violations.

“Partisan politics and recent corruption scandals have eroded the public’s trust in the federal government, and since entering Congress, one of my priorities has been to restore this trust by creating a transparent and accountable office for all my constituents,” said Congresswoman Gillibrand.  “This proposal will reform the way business is done in Washington and make Members in the House of Representatives accountable for their actions.”

In her first term in Congress, Representative Gillibrand has been a leader on ethics issues and pushed her own party’s leadership to develop an additional and independent ethics committee to better enforce House rules.  In her first two days in office, Congresswoman Gillibrand voted to ban lobbyists from giving free gifts, trips and meals to Members of Congress.  Furthermore, Gillibrand was the first Member of Congress to list her official schedule online every day, and is one of only a handful of Members to disclose on her website all of her earmark requests for her district and her financial disclosure report.

The Office of Congressional Ethics will be comprised of six individuals appointed jointly by the Speaker and the Minority Leader.  Current members of Congress and lobbyists would not be eligible to serve on the panel.  The panel would have the power to initiate investigations of Members of Congress. At the conclusion of an investigation, the panel would report its findings to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics Committee) and recommend whether the committee should take further action.