mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. speaker , all over washington and in the country , people are talking today about the majority 's last-minute decision to abandon rules changes that would have eviscerated longstanding ethical guidelines in this house , and , with that , the integrity of the institution . 
and while in the end the majority was right to withdraw these provisions , they hardly deserve our congratulations . 
the republicans simply succumbed to tough criticism from every major ethics group in washington , several major news organizations and house democrats . 
the rules changes in question were so egregious that rank-and-file republicans would not support their leadership 's plan . 
the proposals were so offensive that the ethics committee chairman broke with his own leadership on the issue . 
one of the changes would have permitted members , indicted by a grand jury on felony counts , to continue to hold house leadership positions . 
the measure was similar to a conference rule the house republican conference passed last fall to protect its leadership in the event that one of them is indicted . 
the fact that they ever considered changing the rules of the house in this disgraceful manner is a sad commentary on the ethical compass of this body 's leadership . 
they also planned to eliminate a 30-year standing rule that members of congress could be disciplined for actions that brought dishonor and discredit on this house , the people 's house . 
this standard is similar to the one that exists for the men and women serving in our military . 
how could they even think about changing the house rules in this regard when to do so would mean demanding a higher ethical standard from an 18-year-old private in the army than we who sit in this hallowed chamber ? 
how could we ask more from our young people than we ask of ourselves ? 
it is hard to believe that there was a time in the not too distant past when the republicans touted their high ethical and moral standards . 
mr. speaker , it seems to me that this entire episode has been a violation of the public trust . 
when americans enter their voting booths and cast their ballots for congress , they give us a very precious gift , their trust . 
american voters expect , and rightly so , that we as members of congress will conduct ourselves at the highest ethical standard and uphold democratic principles such as integrity and accountability . 
how can we as the guardians of democracy spread the values of self-governance across the world if we refuse to govern ourselves right here in this chamber ? 
mr. speaker , though we should all be relieved that the republicans were shamed into abandoning the most overtly egregious provisions , the remaining ethics provisions in today 's legislation will still destroy the house ethics process . 
i can not say it more plainly than that . 
the ethics process will be destroyed . 
the tactics have changed , but the end result is the same . 
the house ethics system will be gutted . 
mr. speaker , the committee on standards of official conduct is the only evenly divided committee in the house . 
as the rule stands today , if the five republicans and five democrats on the committee do not reach agreement about the merits of an ethics complaint , it is automatically referred to investigators . 
this approach was designed to take the partisan politics out of the equation and to ensure that meritorious complaints would be investigated regardless of the political winds of the day . 
under the republican rules package , one-half of the committee will now have the power to bury complaints , even the most meritorious ones . 
under the rules package before us today , if the committee is deadlocked , the ethics complaint dies . 
this one provision gives the republicans an enormous amount of control over who is and who is not investigated by the committee on standards of official conduct . 
in practical terms , the republicans have granted themselves veto power over any complaint it does not deem palatable . 
mr. speaker , this rules package would effectively eliminate the 45-day deadline the committee on standards of official conduct currently has to act on complaints . 
the 45-day requirement was designed to prevent ethics complaints from being buried away from public view and to ensure that those members who should be held accountable for corruption would be . 
this provision ensures that no ethics complaint will move forward against a republican without their leadership 's consent . 
mr. speaker , we can be sure that if these rules changes had been in place in the last congress , no ethics complaints would have seen the light of day . 
under the republicans , the ethical climate in washington has eroded enormously . 
when i speak to constituents , i find myself telling them to forget what they learned in school about how a bill becomes a law . 
in times past , our laws were written to serve the public interest . 
but today the sad reality is that corporations like enron write our nation 's policies . 
the medicare drug bill that was rammed through congress in the dead of night stands as a potent example of the ethical erosion of the house of representatives . 
when the dust settled on the prescription drug vote , former representative billy tauzin , the key author and then chairman of the committee on energy and commerce , had himself the republican rules package will reduce this committee to a paper tiger . 
the american people deserve much better than to have a `` for sale '' sign placed on the united states house of representatives . 
they deserve to be able to trust their elected leaders and have faith in the integrity of this institution . 
they should be able to expect accountability from their government . 
unfortunately , the lesson we have here today is if you have the power and you break the rules , you can just change the rules . 
mr. speaker , i know there are members on the other side of the aisle , because i know them , who care greatly about the integrity of this chamber , and i know that there are freshmen members here today eager to cast their first vote on behalf of the constituents whose trust they hold and the constitution they love . 
i challenge those new members , and any other republican who values integrity and the sanctity of the democratic process , to stand up for the values of those who trusted you to represent them . 
mr. speaker , at the close of this debate , i will be asking members to vote `` no '' on the previous question so i can strike from the rules package language that would allow the republicans to run out the clock on serious ethics complaints . 
immediately following that vote , i will ask for a `` yes '' on a motion to commit the resolution so that we can add two important rules changes . 
the first would prohibit members from negotiating lucrative job deals that capitalize on their committee membership . 
the other would guarantee that members have at least 3 days to read a house report before voting on it . 
when bills are rushed to the floor , cobbled together at the last minute , warm from the machine , pages are missing or , worse , outrageous provisions are slipped in by committee staff . 
lest we forget , the provision that opened up private taxpayers ' records that was sneaked into last year 's omnibus spending bill was by just such a staff member . 
mr. speaker , i urge my colleagues to vote to strike the egregious ethics changes in this package . 
we owe it to the constituents we serve , to this institution , and to the constitution that we adore and revere to restore the ethics and integrity to the people 's house . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
