Editorial: Asking questions

Congressmen are getting cranky about the work of a new independent House ethics board, and that's a good sign.

The nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics was created at the urging of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) in March 2008 to look into complaints against lawmakers and, if necessary, refer them to the House Ethics Committee for possible discipline.

The new office was devised because the Ethics Committee wasn't doing its job of enforcing standards of conduct. Along with the new office, private citizens for the first time would be allowed to file complaints against lawmakers, too.

You can tell that the OCE is already rubbing some lawmakers the wrong way. It was assailed by the Ethics Committee for what that panel called a "fundamentally flawed" probe of Rep. Sam Graves (R., Mo.) in a possible conflict-of-interest case. It was the OCE's first public review of a lawmaker's actions.

Graves had asked one of his wife's business associates to testify at a congressional hearing. The OCE referred the case to the Ethics Committee, which cleared Graves. The exoneration came despite the OCE's warning that lawmakers should avoid even the appearance of a conflict.

The caution irritated Republicans and Democrats on the Ethics Committee, who argued (erroneously) that there is no such requirement in House rules. They also criticized the OCE for failing to meet its own deadlines, and questioned whether the office should have been allowed to complete the investigation.

Clearly, the Ethics Committee doesn't like others telling it how to do its job. But it's just as clear that it needs the advice.

Before the creation of the OCE, the Ethics Committee was paralyzed by partisanship. At one point, the committee didn't even meet for more than a year, much less consider action against any lawmakers.

While the panel was slumbering, House members of both parties were stealing all the silverware. There were numerous scandals, including the infamous corrupt lobbying network of Jack Abramoff when Republicans ruled the House, not to mention the FBI finding a $90,000 stash of bribe money in the freezer of Rep. William Jefferson (D., La.).

The preliminary work of the OCE indicates that there is no shortage of ethics issues since Democrats took control of the House. A confidential report leaked accidentally last month showed that the Ethics Committee had looked into at least 30 lawmakers this year as part of inquiries into possible violations of House rules.

Nobody has been accused of wrongdoing, but among the names on the list are Reps. Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.), the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. John Murtha (D., Pa.), chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee. Murtha and other appropriators are under fire for their questionable relationships with defense contractors.

The Ethics Committee has begun full investigations into Reps. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) and Laura Richardson (D., Calif.), probes that were recommended by the OCE. The committee wants to know if Waters violated ethics rules by helping direct federal bailout money to a Boston bank connected to her husband, and whether Richardson got special favors in a real-estate deal.

The OCE's role in ethics enforcement is important and should be preserved. It's no accident that the House Ethics Committee is once again busy after a long, self-serving hibernation.