The House last night approved
one of the most significant changes to its ethics rules in decades,
creating for the first time an independent panel empowered to
initiate investigations of alleged misconduct by members of the
chamber.
The six members of the new
Office of Congressional Ethics would have the authority to initiate
preliminary reviews of allegations against House members, conduct
investigations and refer their findings to the House
ethics committee along with a public report.
"For the first time in
history, you have nonmembers able to initiate investigations,"
said Sarah Dufendach, chief lobbyist for the watchdog group Common
Cause. "They're doing oversight. They're the new police."
The final vote, 229 to 182,
belied the measure's controversy in the House; 159 Republicans and
23 Democrats opposed it. Even with two House members under
indictment, two others sent to prison, and several others under
federal investigation, nearly half the House did not want to submit
the body to the scrutiny of a panel not under its control.
"If you have a single
ounce of self-preservation, you'll vote no," implored Rep.
Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) last night.
A parliamentary maneuver
before the final vote was defeated by a single vote, and only after
Democratic leaders held the vote open an extra 16 minutes to twist
enough arms to secure passage.
House Majority
Whip James Clyburn (S.C.)
leaned hard on his fellow Congressional
Black Caucus members, persuading Reps.
G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Sanford B. Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.) and
Emanuel
Cleaver II (D-Mo.) -- to switch their votes.
Republicans angrily accused
Democrats of defying their new ethics rules, which prohibit the
holding open of votes for the purpose only of changing the outcome.
House Democratic leaders
faced severe difficulty even in bringing the measure to a vote --
from Republicans and fellow Democrats.
Until the moment of last
night's vote, the panel's proposal absorbed bipartisan attacks from
members who were concerned that an outside panel would reopen the
ethics wars that plagued the House in the 1990s. Similar proposals
have been shot down twice in the Senate, by overwhelming bipartisan
votes.
"Ladies and gentleman,
we have a new grand jury in the House," thundered Rep.
Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii). "Any referral to the Office
of Congressional Ethics will be tantamount to a guilty verdict. Any
other conclusion by the ethics committee will be seen as a
cover-up. I guarantee it."
But House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wore down opponents, first with
changes to the original proposal, then by scheduling last night's
public vote and essentially daring members to reject it.
