Pelosi Statement on Capuano Report of Special Task Force on Ethics Enforcement

'I welcome the report issued today by Mr. Capuano and his colleagues on the bipartisan Ethics Task Force.  I thank them for the many hours of reflection and discussion they have devoted to this issue. They have performed a valuable service for the House.

'This proposal is the third major initiative the New Direction Congress has undertaken this year to strengthen our ethics rules and laws.  On the first day of the 110th Congress, Democrats changed House rules to tighten ethics standards.  Next, as part of our first 100 hours effort, we passed landmark lobbying reform legislation, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which independent ethics groups called 'historic.'  Today, the task force has released a proposal to create an outside, independent ethics review panel that, in the words of U.S. PIRG, 'would fundamentally change the way in which ethics complaints are initiated and handled.'

'The Democratic leadership is committed to a continuing review of our ethics processes and our ethics rules and we will make further changes if necessary.  I look forward to hearing from the other members of the Ethics Task Force and to working on a bipartisan basis to achieve real reform.'