Congress needs an ethics panel

12 Dec 2005 // Rep. Doc Hastings, a Republican from Eastern Washington, should be ashamed of himself for allowing the House ethics committee he chairs to turn into a dysfunctional joke. It is an embarrassment to the state, to the country and even to the Republican Party that swept to power on the promise of clean government.

It’s time for Hastings to stop his petty squabbling with the Democrats and start doing his job. Lord knows there is plenty to do at a time when one representative is headed for prison for accepting bribes and former House ma-jority leader Tom DeLay is under indictment in a Texas campaign finance scheme. Yet Congress has no functional ethics committee to hold elected leaders accountable.

Part of the blame rests with Hastings, a Republican from Pasco, who has been slow to assume leadership of the ethics panel this year. His disagreements with Democrats over staffing and operational issues have left the com-mittee in total dysfunction.

Poor views of elected officials

At a time when American citizens already hold their elected officials in low esteem, this is no time to abandon ethical oversight in Congress.

The ethics panel, which is responsible for upholding the ethics code in the House of Representatives, has been in chaos since panel members voted to admonish DeLay, R-Texas, twice last year.

In what many see as an act of revenge by the House leader, Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., was removed as chairman of the committee. Two other committee members were removed, and a purge of the committee staff followed.

Hastings had to start from scratch, but he has been extremely slow to take charge.

Hastings and Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., the committee’s ranking Democrat, have argued for months over the makeup of the committee’s staff. A new chief of staff for the committee has been hired but has not yet assumed the position. Numerous investigative positions have yet to be filled.

They’ve fiddled for an entire year, and as a result, the ethics committee hasn’t opened a single new case or un-dertaken an investigation during the whole of 2005.

That’s a disservice to the American public.

Federal investigations

Meanwhile, members of Congress are being exposed for serious ethical lapses — mostly through federal investi-gations.

Recently, a tearful Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., stood before the television cameras and an-nounced that he is resigning his position in Congress after pleading guilty to accepting more than $2.4 million in bribes to steer federal business to military contractors. Cunningham pleaded guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy charges.

It wasn’t the House ethics panel that blew the whistle on the congressman for sale. It was the sale of his Rancho Santa Fe home to a military contractor at an inflated price two years ago that proved to be Rep. Cunningham’s undoing.

In the past two weeks, public relations executive Michael Scanlon admitted his role in a conspiracy to try to bribe a congressman, and a Texas judge upheld a portion of the indictment against DeLay, ensuring that the powerful D.C. lawmaker will go on trial for money laundering.

Several other members of Congress are under investigation for accepting lavish gifts and money from former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

So far this year, at least seven lawmakers have been indicted, have pleaded guilty or are under investigation for improper conduct such as conspiracy, securities fraud and improper campaign donations.

In-committee squabbles

While members of Congress thumb their noses at the taxpayers, the five Democrats and five Republicans on the House ethics committee argue over hiring policies.

“There is no ethics enforcement in Congress today, and it’s inexcusable,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative monitor of government ethics.

“No matter what level of corruption the members of Congress engage in, the ethics committees do nothing,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the liberal-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “It’s a national embarrassment.”

It certainly is, and it’s humiliating that a Washington state lawmaker is part of the problem.