Joe Crowley: “the ethics of this House, the people's House, and this leadership have been questioned. Madam Speaker, the leadership of…”

“the ethics of this House, the people's House, and this leadership have been questioned. Madam Speaker, the leadership of the majority is being investigated by no more than 15 newspaper investigative reporters. And while all this happens, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, our Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, stands silent, locked tighter than a drum, deadlocked. This time, the majority cannot blame anyone but themselves. They cannot blame the Democratic Party. The majority threw out the rules and House ethics. They removed the former Chair because of his independence and changed the rules to make delay and denial easier and facts harder to find. The ethics issues that are being investigated need to be addressed, and where they should be addressed is in the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The Republicans need to break this logjam and make the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct the most respected committee in the Congress, instead of the partisan political tool that it has become. ____________________”