Archive: 2008

To increase the public trust in Congress, the House has just passed H.Res. 895, to strengthen congressional ethics enforcement with a new Office of Congressional Ethics. This will bring greater accountability and transparency to the ethics enforcement process by requiring, for the… Continue

The House has just voted on overriding the President's veto of the Intelligence Authorization bill (H.R. 2082), but the veto was sustained with 220 Democrats and only 5 Republicans voting to override. The President vetoed the bill over the provision that extends… Continue

Today the Education and Labor Committee Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing concerning President Bush’s proposal to slash $281 million from funding for after school programs, which would force hundreds of thousands of children out of these… Continue

Admiral Fallon's decision to resign is a disappointment to those of us who viewed his reputation for candor as an essential asset in his role as CENTCOM commander. Although his views on the best way to deal with the challenges in CENTCOM's… Continue

The House has just sworn in Congressman Bill Foster, who represents Illinois’ 14th Congressional District: Rep. Foster: “And now as you can probably already tell, we scientists aren’t known for our fiery rhetoric, but as I stand before you today, it is… Continue

“Since the Ethics Committee was first constituted in 1967, the House has set increasingly higher standards of conduct to guide Members because public office is a public trust.”

“Admiral Fallon’s decision to resign is a disappointment to those of us who viewed his reputation for candor as an essential asset in his role as CENTCOM commander.”

On Saturday, President Bush vetoed the House- and Senate-passed Intelligence Authorization bill because it extended the prohibition on the use of waterboarding and other harsh coercive interrogation techniques that currently applies to the military to the entire Intelligence Community, including the CIA…. Continue

“The House is taking action today to uphold the rule of law and to protect our Constitutional system of checks and balances. Congress, on behalf of the American people, is clearly entitled to the information that is being sought – it involves the politicization of the Justice Department and law enforcement, not national security information nor communications with the President. The President has no grounds to assert executive privilege.”

Read the complaint (pdf) >> Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “The House is taking action today to uphold the rule of law and to protect our Constitutional system of checks and balances. Congress, on behalf of the American people, is clearly entitled to the… Continue