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发帖数: 901 | 1 Every two years around this time, a common mantra repeated by Democrats and
Republicans alike makes its way through Capitol Hill: This will be the
Congress that finally cleans up Washington.
"We're going to drain the swamp," Nancy Pelosi vowed in 2006, echoing
congressional leaders before her. And just last week, Eric Cantor, the No. 2
GOP leader in the House, promised virtually the same thing as the
Republicans prepare to take the House majority. "We will drain the swamp
rather than learn to swim with the alligators," Cantor declared.
But the conclusion this week of the House Ethics Committee investigation of
New York Democrat Charlie Rangel confirms what virtually everyone in
Washington knows about the House's interest in cracking down on ethics: It's
a joke.
After two years of investigation by the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct (the official name of the ethics committee), Rangel was sentenced to
a slap on the wrist for 11 separate ethics violations. It's a humiliating
blow to the vanity of a 20-term lawmaker, perhaps, but Rangel won't have to
resign from Congress or face penalties beyond paying back taxes on the
charges. Rangel, like those before him, will benefit from a system designed
entirely by Congress to protect its own.
[Opinion: Is Rangel an argument for term limits? How do we get rid of these
guys?]
Democrats and Republicans alike have worked for years to undermine the House
ethics process. And as a result, the ethics committee has long functioned
in a state of political stalemate--in part because both parties insisted on
an equal number of representatives on the committee, which ensured a
deadlock.
During the ethics committee's 2004 investigation of House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay (R-Texas), GOP leaders threatened to defund the committee. The
panel ultimately found DeLay guilty of several ethics violations -- but it
was an indictment in Texas for violating campaign finance laws, rather than
the committee's punishment, that drove him from Congress.
And the dynamic that played out in DeLay's case is not uncommon. The House
may recommend that a member be stripped of a committee assignment when a
member's activities suggest the taint of corruption, but other than that, a
lawmaker who appears to be connected to corruption usually just continues
business as usual. The House, in short, protects its members.
[Photos: See more of Rep. Rangel]
When the FBI found $90,000 in bribes hidden in Louisiana Democratic Rep.
William Jefferson's freezer in 2006, the House Ethics Committee voted to
open an investigation, but didn't appear to do anything. It wasn't until a
year later that the House Ethics Committee announced an official
investigation--a proceeding that occurred after federal prosecutors had
already indicted Jefferson on 16 charges related to corruption.
In other cases, the law has acted well before the ethics committee got
around to pursuing an inquiry. Florida GOP Rep. Mark Foley resigned from
Congress in September 2006, when news broke that Foley had sent sexually
suggestive instant messages to teenage boys. The ethics committee then
opened an investigation that found Dennis Hastert and other Republican
leaders negligent in the case, but not in violation of House rules. The
panel did not recommend any sanctions.
An additional frustration for watchdog groups is that the committee operates
in secrecy and has a policy of not commenting on any ongoing investigations.
In 2008, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought to change the committee's high-
secrecy profile by leading the charge in creating an Office of Congressional
Ethics to strengthen the House ethics process, increase transparency, and
serve as a link between the ethics committee and the public. But as we've
seen in Rangel's case, complaints surrounding the ethics process continue.
The committee has one more trial on its plate before the session concludes:
A House proceeding opens Nov. 29 for California Democratic Rep. Maxine
Waters, who faces three ethics charges connected to her advocacy for a bank
with ties to her husband.
Beyond that, however, the House ethics process seems likely to revert to the
earlier status quo as the majority switches to Republican control.
Incoming Speaker John Boehner has already begun talk of defunding the Office
of Congressional Ethics, which he opposed from the start, arguing it's an
unnecessary expense and has been an ineffective body. Boehner's opponents
argue his plans could move the House backward in the ongoing fight to combat
corruption in Washington. | s*********8
发帖数: 901 | 2 Rangel was sentenced to a slap on the wrist for 11 separate ethics
violations. It's a humiliating blow to the vanity of a 20-term lawmaker,
perhaps, but Rangel won't have to resign from Congress or face penalties
beyond paying back taxes on the
charges. |
|
