Oct 3, 2006 -- Foley Scandal Shows Urgent Need for Office of Public Integrity: Statement of Meredith McGehee, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director

There have been too many scandals and too little accountability on Capitol Hill. The Congressional ethics process is broken and former Representative Mark Foley must be the straw that breaks the camel's back and makes Congress admit its own dysfunction.

Words and outrage are nice, but meaningful, reasonable action is what is needed. The creation of a Congressional Office of Public Integrity is the place to start. Congress has proven again that it cannot police its own. The growing list of convictions, plea agreements and resignations can no longer be dismissed as a "bad apple" or a "few bad apples." And who knows what other scandals may still be unearthed by Justice Department investigators or journalists?

The current congressional ethics process is beyond repair, either paralyzed by partisan gridlock or handcuffed by an approach which puts accommodation above enforcement. When it comes to ethics enforcement, more of the same will give us more of the same. Of course, t he Speaker of the House decides who sits on the ethics committee for his party. Enlisting the services of an outside counsel is the minimum that must be done in the Foley case, but even then, the process remains too flawed and the use of outside counsel is only a temporary fix that doesn't get at the underlying systemic problems. Will there only be unbiased ethics enforcement when the behavior of a Member hits the front page of every paper in the nation and that behavior is so reprehensible that the public demands an outside investigation?

The establishment of an Office of Public Integrity, like the one proposed by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), would create an independent, nonpartisan and professional office in both Houses of Congress to enforce ethics rules. The House and Senate ethics committees would no longer serve as the investigators, prosecutors and judges of potential ethics violations by their own Members, a process of inherently conflicting responsibilities. No matter what party is in power, the current Congressional ethics process has proven a fiasco and must be overhauled with an Office of Public Integrity at its core.

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