On the recordFebruary 8, 2012
I thank the gentlelady. Mr. Speaker, the gentlelady from New York has a long history of service and was concerned about ethics before ethics were in vogue, and certainly before ``60 Minutes'' came on. All of us here enjoying in this people's House the incredible honor and responsibility and privilege that we have been given by our neighbors, we gather in here as teachers and soldiers, as microbiologists, as new Members, attorneys who join us here, and were sent here from across this Nation, from the plains of Minnesota to the high rises of New York City to the beautiful areas of Oregon. Our newest Member is joining us tonight. And the responsibility of standing here and self-governing calls the responsibility of us to conduct ourselves in a manner not just equal to every other Member, every other citizen, but to a higher level. And the absolute perception, whether real or not, the perception that Members of Congress or elected officials are somehow using their office to profit, or somehow tipping people to profit for themselves, is not only an affront to our neighbors who sent us here, it's a cancer on the democracy. This institution and deliberative self-government will survive long before us. The giants who came before us and the words that we stand in front of, they will last into the future. This institution requires us to conduct ourselves in this manner.…
