Political Quotes

“as I read it, this amendment would single out employees of the new Department of Homeland Security and have different standards for them compared with other executive branch employees. We have come to appreciate the government-wide ethics standards as representing a level playing field that has been the foundation of other Federal ethic laws as well; a single government-wide system of public financial disclosure requirements where officials, officers, and employees of the Federal Government has been in place for the last 14 years. The government-wide Ethics Act of 1989 created a level playing field for all three branches of Government. This act was a successful bipartisan effort to reform and strengthen Federal ethics standards. The goal of uniformity is a recurring theme in the legislative history of that act. This amendment would break the equanimity of the current system. When we start treating one Department or Agency different from another, we could end up with a patchwork of different standards, unworkable and unfair, as employees transfer from one Department to another in the Federal Government. I must oppose the amendment that singles out the new Department of Homeland Security for different treatment than other executive branch agencies and departments.”