Malcolm Wallop: “I thank the Senator from Kentucky. Mr. President, I speak today as a former chairman, and former vice chairman, of the…”

“I thank the Senator from Kentucky. Mr. President, I speak today as a former chairman, and former vice chairman, of the Ethics Committee which sat in judgment on one of the most difficult and contentious ethics cases that this Senate has ever faced; namely, Abscam. Let me begin by saying that the role of the Ethics Committee is twofold and very specific, and neither holds priority over the other. One is the protection of the reputation of the Senate. The other is the protection of the reputation of Senators. Either can be threatened by public accusations, be they worthwhile or frivolous. The job of this institution and that of the Ethics Committee is to distinguish between those which are frivolous and those which are serious. Last year, during debate on the lobbying disclosure bill, I was the only Senator to vote against this gift ban idea. I did so because I am not for sale, and I do not believe others in this body are for sale. If they are for sale, rules will not keep them from selling themselves. But rules can keep good, competent, ordinary, yeoman Senators who have the highest of ethical principles from functioning on behalf of their State, their constituency, and their country. Like Gulliver, this bill will bind us with inefficient little threads of regulatory monstrosities, all premised on the idea that somehow or other, if we put enough rules on ourselves, we can make an immoral person moral. Mr. President, that is not the way of human life.…”