The Hill reports on the tough struggle to pass the House ethics reform bill. Make no mistake, CREW thinks the new proposal is "simply a paper tiger." Freshmen Congressman Zach Space said, We haven’t been very good at policing ourselves.”  He's right.  But, that didn't seem to faze many members --  some of whom tried procedural roadblocks to prevent the legislation from moving forward.  And, some who have their own ethical issues weren't too keen on the tightening ethics rules at all: 

As late as Monday evening, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who has opposed ethics reform measures in the past, said he remained undecided about the measure. He voted with Democratic leaders on the procedural vote, but voted against the resolution.

“We have a New York governor in the news right who shows that you can’t legislate ethics,” he said. “It always comes down to the individual.”

In the end, three committee chairs voted against the resolution: Dingell, who chairs the Energy and Commerce committee, as well as Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (Mo.) and Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Bob Filner (Calif.).

Reps. John Doolittle (D-Calif.), who is under FBI investigation for his ties to Abramoff, voted against the resolution, while Rep.William Jefferson (La.), who faces trial on bribery and corruption charges, voted for it. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), who was indicted last month for his role in a land deal, was not present for the vote.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, registered his displeasure with the proposal by using a parliamentary tactic to delay the vote. Just after 8 p.m., Abercrombie forced a vote on a motion to adjourn, which only served to delay the vote on the ethics resolution until an hour later. The vote failed 177 to 196, with 14 Democrats voting in favor of it.

Afterward, Abercrombie railed against the proposal to resounding applause on both sides of the aisle.

“With this proposal we are indicting ourselves, yielding and retreating to those who would tear this House down and denigrate us as crooks and knaves and hustlers…we cringe before our critics,” he said. “If we have no respect for ourselves—how to we expect it from anybody else?”