This is an excerpt from "John Boehner: For a Majority That Matters," January 9, 2006:
So I'd offer a few thoughts for how to respond to the Abramoff scandal:
What Abramoff and his colleagues have admitted to doing is already illegal; the allegations against House colleagues, if proven, are already impermissible under House rules.
True. My only question is: if proven by whom? The ethics committees? This scandal has been going on for more than a year and neither one has done bupkis. So what if House Members have done impermissible things, no one is going to file an ethics complaint or conduct an investigation. This is how the feds got involved.
We should think seriously about bringing greater transparency to the lobbying industry. Anyone - anyone - can call himself or herself a lobbyist, recruit clients, and make appearances on their behalf on the Hill. Clearer standards and greater transparency would promote greater institutional integrity and protect us against those in the industry who put their own short-term interests against the public trust.
Also true. Of course, it takes two to tango.
Many of us have served in state government, which have their own systems in place for ensuring integrity in public office. We need to take full advantage of their experience with these systems and how they've worked. Accordingly, I'd convene a task force of current House Members who have previously served in state government to identify best practices currently in place at the state level.
Great! Let me take this opportunity to point out that according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than 30 states have independent ethics oversight of the legislatures. I would include that among the best practices. Will they?
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