Peter Roskam Votes No on Ethics Reform - What Does He Want to Hide?

Peter Roskam cast his vote today against the establishment of a new set of ethics rules for the House of Representatives. The measure, which was passed despite Roskam’s vote, establishes for the first time an independent means of policing a Congress which had grown to be spectacularly corrupt during the Bush-Abramoff-Rove era. A number of legislators of Roskam’s Republican party, including Roskam’s ex-boss Tom Delay, were indicted and/or convicted on charges of serious corruption. One Democrat, William Jefferson, has also been indicted. During this period, the House Ethics committee proved to be completely ineffectual, prompting Democrats to push for independent oversight once they became the majority party.

There will now be an independent Office of Congressional Ethics which can initiate and investigate complaints without prior approval of the Ethics committee. Its powers are somewhat limited in that it will not be able to issue subpoenas and determinations on the validity of its investigative findings will still be left to the Ethics committee.

Most Republicans, including Roskam, fiercely resisted this reform. The final vote fell strongly along party lines though a few members from either side crossed over. One wonders why Roskam and his party fear independent oversight. Do they have more skeletons in their cloakroom?

Interestingly, if Denny Hastert hadn’t abandoned his seat in the 14th abruptly and Bill Foster hadn’t been elected to replace him, independent oversight may not have come to pass. According to The Swamp, prior to the vote on passage, the measure hung on a procedural vote that passed by a single Ay. Foster was there and voted yes. Hastert most certainly would have voted no. So a BIG thank you to Bill Foster and here’s hoping voters take you to the woodshed this fall, Peter. Once again you have demonstrated your insistence that government and corporate elites should be above the law.