On the recordAugust 2, 2012
As chairman of the Committee on Ethics, I rise in support of a resolution before us today which calls for a reprimand for Representative Laura Richardson of California. Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the responsibility for punishing Members of our body for disorderly behavior. And in the House, it is the Committee on Ethics, the only evenly divided committee, made up of five Democrats and five Republicans, and served by a completely nonpartisan, professional staff, that has been entrusted with the responsibility to enforce the rules of the House and recommend actions such as that before us today, when a Member or staff acts in a manner that violates the spirit of public trust. The obligation, therefore, falls to this committee to review those allegations that a Member has violated ethical standards that the American people expect and deserve from those of us who are privileged enough to work for them, men and women who wear the title of Representative of this great Nation. This unfortunate story begins in October of 2010 when the committee, during the 111th Congress, first began to receive complaints from several members of Representative Richardson's staff, both in the Washington, D.C., and Long Beach, California, offices, that Representative Richardson required her staff to perform campaign work.…
