Media

"In a major overhaul of how it polices itself, and in response to a spate of scandals that have tarnished Congress' image, the House voted Tuesday night to create a panel of outsiders to investigate ethics complaints against lawmakers."

To increase the public trust in Congress, the House has just passed H.Res. 895, to strengthen congressional ethics enforcement with a new Office of Congressional Ethics. This will bring greater accountability and transparency to the ethics enforcement process by requiring, for the first time in history, an independent review of alleged ethics violations by individuals who are not Members of Congress. Rep. Betty Sutton (OH-13) managed debate on this landmark rule.

Learn more in our current legislation section >>

The House has just voted on overriding the President's veto of the Intelligence Authorization bill (H.R. 2082), but the veto was sustained with 220 Democrats and only 5 Republicans voting to override. The President vetoed the bill over the provision that extends to U.S. intelligence agencies and personnel the current prohibitions in the Army Field Manual against waterboarding and other torture.

Failing to prohibit in statute the use of waterboarding and other torture undermines our nation's moral authority, puts American military and diplomatic personnel at risk, and weakens the quality of intelligence.

Today the Education and Labor Committee Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing concerning President Bush's proposal to slash $281 million from funding for after school programs, which would force hundreds of thousands of children out of these safe, effective programs.

Subcommittee Chairman Dale Kildee: "By the administration's own calculations, its proposal could result in more than one million fewer students receiving services...

Admiral Fallon's decision to resign is a disappointment to those of us who viewed his reputation for candor as an essential asset in his role as CENTCOM commander. Although his views on the best way to deal with the challenges in CENTCOM's area of responsibility may not have matched those held by White House officials, Admiral Fallon was viewed in Congress as someone who was careful, forthright, and direct.

His departure is a loss for the country and, if it was engineered by the Administration over policy differences, that loss is compounded significantly.

The House has just sworn in Congressman Bill Foster, who represents Illinois' 14th Congressional District:

Rep. Foster: "And now as you can probably already tell, we scientists aren't known for our fiery rhetoric, but as I stand before you today, it is my solemn hope that with less bickering and word-twisting in Washington, there will be more problem-solving. We need to work together for energy independence, for tax cuts for middle class families, to expand health care for more children, for a return to fiscal discipline, and as important as anything, for a new direction in Iraq. Together we can fulfill our pledge to the next generation..."

"Since the Ethics Committee was first constituted in 1967, the House has set increasingly higher standards of conduct to guide Members because public office is a public trust."