Congressman Lamar Smith 21st district of Texas

Contact: Christine McCarty 202-225-4236

Washington, Mar 4, 2008 - Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) today issued the following statement regarding the Democrats’ ethics resolution:

“On February 27th, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer spoke on the House floor stating that Mr. Capuano and I needed the opportunity to discuss the Republican alternative. This discussion has yet to take place.

“On February 29th, Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a letter stating, “To provide the %5balternative%5d Smith plan with the scrutiny it merits, I would propose that the Capuano-Smith committee consider its provision and report to us, as they did with the current proposal for an outside entity.”

“Unfortunately, no meetings to discuss the Republican alternative have occurred. We have two different proposals, but we do not have a bipartisan Ethics Task Force proposal. The Democrats’ ethics proposal was never voted on by the Task Force, and the Republican members on the Task Force never supported it.

“We need a unified package that directly reforms the House Ethics Committee. The Republican alternative to fix the Ethics Committee reflects the democratic principles that all Americans cherish and recognize as right and fair: more bipartisanship and more transparency in the current system. The Democrats’ proposal adds an additional layer of bureaucracy and results in less democracy.

“I remain hopeful that we can reach a bipartisan consensus on improvements to the congressional ethics process that protects the integrity of the House and increases public confidence in congressional ethics enforcement.”