Office of Congressional Ethics to Continue in 112th Congress: Statement of J. Gerald Hebert, Campaign Legal Center Executive Director

We commend Speaker-designee John Boehner (R-OH) for including the continuation of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) in the draft of the operating rules for the House for the 112th Congress.  The OCE has faced opposition and criticism from Members from both parties because it has brought a degree of transparency and accountability to the House ethics process that had long been missing. 

The new rules contain no suggested weakening changes, which we had feared in the wake of ongoing attacks and criticisms by some Members uncomfortable with an ethics process emerging from a long hibernation.  The OCE must be permitted to do its job and must be given the necessary resources to do so.  The American public has a right to expect that Members of Congress be held to the highest ethical standards and we will continue our monitoring of the OCE’s work in the days ahead to ensure that there is continued enforcement of House ethics rules.