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On the Issues

Ethics and Lobbying Reform

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Citizens must be confident that their elected officials will adhere to the highest ethical standards, and that government will be accountable, responsive, and effective.

When the 110th Congress convened under new leadership in January 2007, the first priority was to address the severe erosion of public trust in government that had occurred in the wake of the Jack Abramoff investigation and other ethics scandals.

Immediately after convening, the House adopted a comprehensive package of rules and ethics reforms designed to clean up the policymaking and legislative processes. The new rules package broke the link between lobbyists and legislators by allowing no gifts, no private jets, and no meals from lobbyists. Among many other reforms, it also established new disclosure requirements for earmarks sponsored both by members of Congress and by the President.

In September 2007, Congress went further, enacting the most sweeping lobbying reform in a generation: the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. I strongly supported this legislation, which expanded public disclosure of Members’ travel and finances and increased disclosure requirements for lobbyists’ activities, including their contributions to lawmakers.

I also have been involved in recommending additional House reforms as a member of the bipartisan Special Task Force on Ethics Enforcement. Our task force’s final proposal, which the House approved in March, will establish an independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) comprised of outside experts. This independent panel will review incoming ethics complaints and then refer matters to the House Ethics Committee when further action is warranted.

I am hopeful that these reforms will go a long way toward restoring the transparency, accountability, and integrity of Congress. In the meantime, I will continue to work with like-minded colleagues on both sides of the aisle to hold public officials accountable to the citizens they serve.

Related Information

Earmarks: See a full list of projects that I requested, along with a detailed description of the project.

Summary of House Ethics Rules

Federal Whistleblower Hotline

Congressional Lobbying Disclosure Regulations



Washington, D.C.
U.S. House of Representatives
2162 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202.225.1784
Fax: 202.225.2014
Durham
411 W. Chapel Hill Street
NC Mutual Building, 9th Floor
Durham, NC 27701
Phone: 919.688.3004
Fax: 919.688.0940
Raleigh
5400 Trinity Road
Suite 205
Raleigh, NC 27607
Phone: 919.859.5999
Fax: 919.859.5998
Chapel Hill
88 Vilcom Center
Suite 140
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Phone: 919.967.7924
Fax: 919.967.8324