Today, Common Cause and other government accountability groups urged every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to strengthen the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and make the office permanent. Even if Congress does not codify the OCE into law at this time, the groups stress the importance of maintaining the office’s continued existence and the importance of not weakening it in the 119th Congress. The letter emphasizes overwhelming public support for increased ethics and accountability measures and touts the success of the OCE over its first 15 years.

“Americans expect and deserve accountability from their Representatives in Washington, and for 15 years the Office of Congressional Ethics has provided that accountability in the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Virginia Kase Solomon, Presidente at CEO ng Common Cause. “Before the Office of Congressional Ethics was created, the House Ethics Committee was seen as a place where ethics complaints were swept under the rug, and as a result, public confidence in the House withered.”

“The OCE was created in the wake a numerous ethics scandals involving Members because the House Ethics Committee for years had been unwilling and/or unable to hold Members accountable to any sort of acceptable ethical standards,” said Aaron Scherb, Karaniwang Dahilan Senior Direktor ng Legislative Affairs. “It would be both short-sighted and disastrous to return to the ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ approach to ethics enforcement that would take root if the OCE were gutted or eliminated.”

Nilikha ng Kongreso ang OCE, na may malakas na suporta ng Common Cause, sa ilalim ng matinding panggigipit ng publiko kasunod ng serye ng mga iskandalo ng panunuhol at katiwalian na humantong sa maraming pagbibitiw pati na rin ang mga sentensiya ng pagkakulong para sa Mga Miyembro at kawani ng Kamara. Mula nang likhain ito noong 2008, ang Office of Congressional Ethics ay nagsilbi bilang isang independiyenteng tagapagbantay na nagbibigay ng hindi partisan na pangangasiwa at pananagutan sa Kamara.

Ang liham ay nagbibigay-diin na ang OCE ay nag-refer ng halos pantay na bilang ng mga Demokratiko at Republikano na Miyembro para sa karagdagang imbestigasyon. Higit pa rito, itinatampok nito na ang OCE ay tumulong sa pag-aayos ng sirang proseso ng etika at pagkumpuni ng nasirang reputasyon ng US House of Representatives.

In addition to Common Cause, the groups signing the letter include Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Democracy 21, Issue One, Project on Government Oversight, Protect Democracy, and Public Citizen.

Upang basahin ang liham sa buong Kapulungan, i-click dito.

To read the Common Cause March 2024 report—Ang Munting Makina na Kaya—on the successes of the OCE in its first 15 years, i-click dito.