Ranking Member Morelle Opening Remarks at Hearing on the Office of Congressional Ethics

Washington, D.C. — Ranking Member Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) delivered the following opening remarks at the House Administration hearing on the Office of Congressional Ethics:

“Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman and to the Ranking Member, I appreciate the opportunity to make just a few observations.

“And before I do that, I want to thank our witnesses for testifying and particularly want to note the presence of a former member of this House, Mr. Barnes.

“So, thank you all for your service.

“In the Federalist Papers, James Madison wrote:

“‘If Men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.’

“Created in March of 2008, the Office of Congressional Ethics is an independent, non-partisan office in the House of Representatives responsible for reviewing allegations of misconduct against Members, officers, and staff of the House of Representatives.

“The office’s establishment, as the Chair has noted, was led by then- Speaker Nancy Pelosi after several high-profile corruption scandals involving various Members of the House.

“And given the recent indictment of Republican Representative George Santos on federal charges of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statement, it is crucial for the House to effectively enforce its ethical standards.

“To that end, it is extremely valuable to have an independent, nonpartisan office able to investigate misconduct by House Members, officers, and staff.

“And such an office must itself uphold the highest ethical standards, conduct its work consistent with Constitutional due process principles in a fair and unbiased manner, and strike an appropriate balance between confidentiality and transparency in carrying out its very important and very sensitive work.

“So, I look forward to today's hearing thinking about how we can work together to improve House ethics enforcement and anxious to hear from the testimony and any questions from members, and with that I yield back, Mr. Chairman.”

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