Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Statement on House Ethics

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Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Statement on House Ethics Process in Shambles

3/14/2005 10:17:00 AM

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To: National Desk

Contact: Amanda Lewis of Democracy 21, 202-429-2008 or [e-mail]

WASHINGTON, March 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer issued the following statement today:

The ethics process in the House of Representatives is in total shambles. This complete breakdown is the direct result of steps taken by House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other House Republican leaders in this Congress to undermine the House ethics enforcement process.

This includes actions taken by the House Republican leadership to cripple the House ethics enforcement process and to purge Republican Members and staff from the Ethics Committee in retribution for holding House Majority Leader Tom DeLay accountable last year for his multiple ethics improprieties.

House Speaker Hastert has created an ethics crisis in the House. It is Speaker Hastert's responsibility to move quickly to fix the untenable and unprecedented situation that now exists.

As a first step, Speaker Hastert should take steps to repeal the House rules adopted at the beginning of this Congress that have led to a complete shut down of ethics enforcement in the House.

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