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Pelosi: Ethics Agreement Is Victory for American People

July 1, 2005

Pelosi: Ethics Agreement Is Victory for American People

Friday, July 1, 2005

Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the Ethics Committee agreement to follow the rules of the House of Representatives and hire a non-partisan professional staff. Below are Pelosi and Ethics Committee Ranking Member Alan Mollohan's statements:

"This agreement is a victory for the American people and a high ethical standard in the House of Representatives. After nearly six months, the Republicans have come to where Democrats began -- the rules of the House must be followed. At long last the Ethics Committee can get to work.

"I commend Congressman Mollohan for his steadfast commitment to ensuring that the ethics process is held to the highest ethical standard. His knowledge of the rules and refusal to compromise the integrity of the House ensures that no Member is above the law."


For Release: Thursday, June 30, 2005

Contacts: Ron Hudok (Mollohan) 202-225-4172

Jessica Gleason (Hastings) 202-225-5816

Ethics Staffing Agreement Finalized

Ethics Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Democrat Alan B. Mollohan said Thursday that they have signed a memorandum that outlines the roles of their shared employees and the committee's professional staff.

The document details and formalizes the agreement that the lawmakers reached Wednesday.

"We are pleased to resolve this issue and are committed to standing up the committee, with a full complement of professional, nonpartisan staff, as soon as possible. It is our intent to establish a committee and process that reflect credibly on the House, its members and the public they serve," Hastings and Mollohan said.


June 30, 2005

Agreement on Positions, Roles and Responsibilities of the Staff of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
  1. The Committee's professional, nonpartisan staff will be headed by a Chief Counsel-Staff Director. All members of the professional, nonpartisan staff will be supervised solely by the Chief Counsel-Staff Director, who will in turn be directly accountable to the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member.
  2. In accordance with House and Committee rules, the Chief Counsel-Staff Director will be appointed by a majority vote of the full Committee upon recommendation of the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member. As soon as possible, the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member will place advertisements and take other steps to seek and screen candidates for the Chief Counsel-Staff Director position, and make a joint recommendation for appointment of one of the candidates to the Committee.
  3. The role of the shared staff members in the conduct of the Committee business will be the same as it has been in prior Congresses, without any enlargement or reduction whatsoever in their roles, in accordance with committee rules. In particular -
  • the shared staff members will have no managerial or supervisory authority whatsoever over the members of the professional, nonpartisan staff, and
  • neither shared staff member will convey any change in policy or directive to any member of the Committee's professional, nonpartisan staff regarding the performance of Committee business without the prior knowledge and joint approval of the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, or the prior knowledge and approval of the other shared staff member. This shall not apply to any routine, non-directive communication necessary for the conduct of committee business.