mr. speaker , i thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time . 
mr. speaker , the first day of a new congress should be a day for hope . 
it should be a day when all of us look forward with optimism to the work ahead . 
but today is not that kind of day . 
instead , the leadership of this house is beginning the new year in the worst possible way , by gutting the ethical standards of the united states house of representatives . 
talk about starting off on the wrong foot . 
in the rules package before us today , the republican leadership is sending a very clear message . 
they are admitting that they are so ethically challenged that they can not conform to the rules they previously adopted , so they must now relax those rules . 
what an awful example to the nation and to the rest of the world . 
we should be strengthening the ethical standards of this house , not weakening them . 
mr. speaker , the republican party regained a majority of seats in this body in 1994 , in part by promising greater accountability and a more honest system in the nation 's capital . 
their actions have been anything but honest ; and now with this rules package , their rush to the bottom continues . 
today is just one more example of the ethical lapses we have seen in this house , a house where major legislation is now written by industry lobbyists , a house where members are not even given the courtesy of being able to read bills before they are voted on , and a house where bad behavior is not reprimanded , but rewarded . 
as members of congress , we should be held to the highest possible ethical standards . 
that means not breaking the law . 
that means not dancing around the law , and that means conducting ourselves in a manner that reflects credibility on the house at all times . 
facing the possible indictment of a member of their leadership , the republicans attempted in secret to change the rules to protect their ethically challenged colleagues . 
however , in the face of mounting public controversy , the public leadership caved last night and rescinded the change . 
they blinked and they buckled . 
but the speaker 's spokesman commented on this flip-flop saying that the issue had become a `` distraction. '' not wrong , mind you , but just distracting . 
i am getting whiplash just watching all this stuff . 
but , mr. speaker , let us be clear that the republican leadership did not find religion in this issue . 
if they believed that what they were about to do was truly wrong , they would not have proposed these rule changes in the first place . 
but while republicans try to pull a fast one claiming that the majority leader fell on his sword for the good of his party , the truth is that the rules package for the 109th congress still in a very meaningful way fundamentally weakens the ethics system here in the house of representatives . 
i strongly urge the american people and members of the press and my colleagues to closely examine these rule changes , especially those made to the ethics standards . 
under the old rules , a properly filed ethics complaint is automatically investigated if that complaint is not acted upon within 45 days . 
remember , as the gentlewoman from new york stated , that the ethics committee is evenly divided between democrats and republicans ; and to ensure that partisan politics did not prevail in the ethics process , a tie vote ensures a formal investigation . 
but under this proposed rules package , there must be a majority vote to investigate a properly filed ethics complaint ; and if that complaint is not acted upon with within 45 days , that ethics complaint dies . 
in other words , mr. speaker , the chairman of the committee , whoever that may be , could stonewall the process , refuse to call for a vote , and ultimately kill any ethics complaint without any action . 
but this also allows any member potentially under investigation to run the clock out by stonewalling investigators until the 45 days are up . 
the american people deserve better than this from their elected representatives . 
we serve at the pleasure of our constituents , and we have a responsibility to uphold the highest ethical standards . 
over the past decade , the republican leadership has careened down the pathway of irresponsibility , and now we are at a crossroads . 
there are those of us who truly believe members of congress should be held to a higher standard and who will make a stand and fight for real accountability from our colleagues , and there will be those who blindly follow their leadership , who vote to weaken the rules of this institution , first written by thomas jefferson , because they fear the retribution of their leaders . 
this should be a place where honesty and integrity are the standard , not a place where the rules are changed merely to protect a powerful few from their own ethical shortcomings . 
mr. speaker , we can stop this debacle . 
let us start over . 
let us make this right . 
let us make the house of representatives an example of high standards and ethical decency . 
i urge my colleagues to vote `` no '' on this rules package . 
