Boehner Will Offer Resolution to Force House Ethics Committee Action on Whether Rep. Jefferson Should be Expelled from the House
Resumption of Stalled Ethics Committee Process Could Result in Rep. Jefferson’s Expulsion, GOP Leader Notes
Washington,
Jun 4, 2007 -
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) announced today
he will force a vote in the House of Representatives to refer the 94-page
indictment of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) to the House Ethics
Committee. The resolution will instruct the Ethics panel to review the
serious allegations and evidence against Jefferson and report within 30 days on
whether he should be expelled from the House for conduct that brings dishonor
to the institution, jump-starting a stalled Ethics Committee process against
Jefferson that was started during the 109th Congress but shut down by
Democratic leaders in January 2007 when they took control of the House.
Boehner’s resolution will also remove Jefferson from the
House Small Business Committee and officially block Democratic leaders’ effort
to appoint the controversial lawmaker to the House Homeland Security Committee,
which would have given him access to highly sensitive top secret
information. Boehner issued the following statement:
“If
the charges against Congressman Jefferson are true, he should be expelled from
the House of Representatives, or he should resign to spare his constituents and
colleagues any further indignity. If my Democratic colleagues are serious
about holding all lawmakers to the highest standards of ethical conduct, they
will support the Republican effort to remove Congressman Jefferson from his
seat on the Small Business Committee and to refer the matter of his indictment
on bribery, racketeering, and money-laundering charges to the House Ethics
Committee for quick resolution. The American people rightfully expect the
highest ethical standards from their elected leaders, and I urge Democrats to
join our effort to force the Ethics Committee to do its work in the wake of
Congressman Jefferson’s indictment.”
NOTE: The
example of Rep. Jefferson is just the latest example of House Democrats
retreating from their promises on ethics reform. Inaction by Democratic
leaders has left the House Ethics Committee ill-prepared to handle the matter
appropriately according to the following excerpts from a May 24, 2007, report
in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call (“No Sign of Life
in Jefferson Ethics Probe,” Roll Call, May 24, 2007):
- “More
than a year after the House ethics committee voted to launch an
investigation into the activities of embattled Rep. William Jefferson
(D-La.), the panel appears to
have stalled in that effort and it is unclear if it has pursued the matter
at all since Democrats took control of the chamber in January.”
- “Another indicator is that Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has yet to name for this Congress the Democrats’
10-member “ethics pool” – the group of Members pre-selected by
their respective party leaders to serve on investigative subcommittees as
they are needed.”
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