HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Mar 14, 2008 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) says House Republicans will use the Easter break to expose the hollowness of the Democratic majority's "ethics reforms" and press for action on the GOP's own congressional reform agenda -- an agenda that includes a comprehensive freeze on all taxpayer-funded earmarks, new steps to force the House Ethics Committee to start doing its work, and a permanent ban on taxpayer-funded "monuments to me" (politicians steering money to projects named after themselves).  To date, the Democratic majority in Congress has stonewalled all of these GOP-initiated reforms, Boehner noted. 

“Democratic leaders will leave town peddling the myth that Washington has been fixed and Congress has been reformed,” Boehner said in a letter sent to House GOP colleagues Thursday.  “Americans won’t buy it.  Nor should they.  What good are congressional rules, if the majority that runs Congress doesn’t live by them?”   

“House Republicans will continue to press for real change in the way Congress operates,” Boehner vowed.  In the letter, Boehner also urged GOP Members of Congress to press a three-point ethics reform agenda during and after the Easter break.  The agenda, with excerpts from Boehner's letter: 

• Make the Ethics Committee Work.  "Led by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), House Republicans put forth an ethics reform plan that was not just an alternative to the flawed 'outside ethics entity' rammed through the House illegitimately by Speaker Pelosi; it was a superior plan altogether.  Instead of adding a new layer of unaccountable bureaucracy on top of a non-functioning Ethics Committee, the House GOP ethics proposal would have strengthened the Ethics Committee by making it more transparent and accountable, and turning cases stalled by partisan gridlock over directly to federal law enforcement authorities within 90 days." 
• Stop Wasteful Earmarks.  "In addition to supporting an immediate freeze on all taxpayer-funded earmarks, House Republicans have called for a permanent end to so-called 'monuments to me' (earmarks for projects named after Members of Congress), unscrutinized 'airdropped' earmarks inserted into House-Senate conference reports, and other reforms that will change the earmark process as we know it.  In addition to blocking a vote on the GOP-proposed moratorium, Democratic leaders have refused to support these reforms, which have already been adopted unilaterally by House Republicans."
• Close Ethics Loopholes for Members-Elect.  "Members of Congress hold a position of public trust, as do Members-elect.  But while Members of Congress are subject to both House gift rules and the gift ban in federal law, Members-elect are not.  This loophole. . .is a perfect example of the hollowness of the Democrats’ reforms.  It should be closed.  When the House returns, I will support the introduction of legislation to close it."

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