Posted on 01/03/2005 3:01:57 PM PST by Libloather
House GOP Considers Discipline Changes
11 minutes ago
By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - House Republicans on Monday considered ways to make it harder to discipline members of Congress, prompted by a rebuke of Majority Leader Tom DeLay that infuriated some GOP colleagues.
Preparing for a meeting to consider rules changes, some Republicans were ready to push for a new standard of conduct — a move that would base any future rebukes on more specific information than is required now.
The change would continue a partisan feud over the House's method of disciplining lawmakers. Democrats opposed the change and were joined by the outgoing Republican chairman of the House ethics committee, Rep. Joel Hefley of Colorado.
The House will debate all new rules proposals Tuesday, the first day of the 109th Congress.
Current rules require lawmakers and employees to conduct themselves "at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House." Some Republicans believe the standard is too general, and want discipline to depend on a more specific finding of wrongdoing.
House Democrats and Republicans had an informal ethics truce after an investigation of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich's activities with tax-exempt organizations — a probe that ended seven years ago with a financial penalty against the former speaker.
That truce ended last year, when a freshman Democrat, Chris Bell of Texas, filed a complaint that led to a rebuke of DeLay. The House ethics committee cited the general rule several times in criticizing the majority leader.
However, the panel did not find that any other standard of conduct was violated, even though it concluded that DeLay created the appearance that an energy company's political donors were given special access to him. DeLay also was admonished for his office's contact with federal aviation officials, seeking their intervention in a Texas political dispute.
Later, the ethics panel — formally the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct — also admonished Bell for filing a complaint that presented an exaggerated description of DeLay's conduct.
Jonathan Grella, a spokesman for DeLay, said, "The only people with reason to gripe about these reforms are the very same people who hoped to mire the House in an ethics war. These reforms are an institutional solution to a political problem and it's the right thing to do for the House and the country."
Hefley will be replaced as ethics chairman under a House rule limiting the service time of an ethics committee member. His office issued a statement that he would oppose an easing of discipline standards and vote against it on the House floor.
Congressional watchdog groups joined House Democrats in opposition, saying the proposed changes were all about DeLay.
"All of this is designed to make one man truly above the law," said Melanie Sloan, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said, "Tom DeLay is a poster boy for ethics problems in the House."
House Republicans demonstrated their loyalty to DeLay on Wednesday, changing a party rule that would have cost him his leadership post if he were indicted by a Texas grand jury that has charged three of his associates.
The Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, commented, "The fact that it is just a very partisan exercise doesn't give me too much encouragement."
Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, a member of the ethics panel, said the Democratic complaint against DeLay "changed the dynamics. There was a dying down period after 1997 of the use of the committee for political purposes. While the committee acted on DeLay, the Bell complaint had a political aspect."
LaTourette said he favored using general language to warn members their conduct may bring discredit upon the House — but not to use that non-specific rule as the basis for rebuking lawmakers.
He said the current rule allowed a House member to be disciplined for conduct that "looks funny" but violated no specific standard of conduct. "Looking funny is a tough code of conduct for anybody," he said.
Added Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, a former committee member: "The rules benefit the aggressors who file complaints."
Nancy maybe the best friend of the GOP...
Actually, Pelosi has a point on this one... Of course even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Just remember all those previous house speakers that were democrats and were unsavory.
La @$&#$#! (Maybe it was his LaSyndrome talking).
Dumb move by the GOP here. Fight the charges, don't try to change the rules.
Fight the charges indeed. Still, for over 50 years, ethics never seemed to bother Dems in the House except when it was an old Dem Southerner. But, Bubba and so many Dems like Adam Clayton Powell , Barney, Studds, and too many to count seemed to change the playground and the rule. It has been over the last 14 years that the Dems have used ethics charges against Pubs because Newt disposed of Jim Wright on the House Bank fraud. Those were real scandals. It always seems that Pubs resign when threatened and Dems just use the media to keep on keeping on. Another double standard for Dem liberals.
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