Washington, D.C. - This is an honor I could have done without.

 

But I have been asked by the Leader of my party to temporarily assume the role of Ranking Member on the Ethics Committee and I have agreed to do so. 

 

I know that the Ethics Committee can honorably and capably investigate and arbitrate legitimate complaints because on my previous watch as Ranking Member, it did just that.

 

In this Committee – alone among the committees of the House of Representatives – membership is evenly divided between the parties.  If every vote is cast along party lines for partisan political advantage, then the result of every vote is a tie, which stops the Committee in its tracks.  Service on the Committee requires that members set aside their partisan interests and pursue the impartial analysis that is their obligation.

 

The Ethics Committee should be neither a Member protection agency, nor a forum for deciding partisan and ideological battles.  If the Committee chooses to pursue either option, then expect my tenure to be even briefer than it is intended to be.