Tim Mahoney: “No party's immune from corruption. Democrats and Republicans alike share the blame for outrageous ethical lapses that…”

“No party's immune from corruption. Democrats and Republicans alike share the blame for outrageous ethical lapses that have occurred in Congress. In order to rebuild the trust of the American people and restore integrity to this great House, it is clear that we need to change the way ethics rules are enforced. While I am pleased that the House will consider legislation tonight to strengthen enforcement of ethics rules, I would like to reiterate the need to create an independent ethics office. We need independent ethics enforcement to prevent the kind of rampant corruption that was condoned in the last Congress and hold all Members accountable for questionable and illegal behavior. Creating an independent ethics office with the authority to blow the whistle on questionable behavior would introduce the impartiality and accountability that has been missing from the enforcement of House ethics rules. It would depoliticize ethics enforcement and get the fox out of the hen house once and for all. We have seen the costs of corruption. It erodes the trust of the American people, hurts our constituents and damages our ability to solve the critical challenges facing our great Nation.”