December, 01 2010, 09:16am EDT
Conservative & Taxpayer Groups Join Reformers in Push to Save Office of Congressional Ethics
A coalition of 10 groups, including Judicial Watch, Taxpayers for
Common Sense, National Taxpayers Union and a number of reform groups
will hold a press conference Thursday at 10:30 a.m. to urge the incoming
House leadership of the 112th Congress to continue the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and to oppose any efforts to weaken or undermine the office.
The Office of Congressional Ethics is an independent non-partisan
investigative office in the House credited with pressuring the
notoriously inactive House Ethics Committee to do its job.
WASHINGTON
A coalition of 10 groups, including Judicial Watch, Taxpayers for
Common Sense, National Taxpayers Union and a number of reform groups
will hold a press conference Thursday at 10:30 a.m. to urge the incoming
House leadership of the 112th Congress to continue the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and to oppose any efforts to weaken or undermine the office.
The Office of Congressional Ethics is an independent non-partisan
investigative office in the House credited with pressuring the
notoriously inactive House Ethics Committee to do its job.
The groups will release research showing an increase in activity this
Congress by the House Ethics Committee, which appears prompted by the
work of the Office of Congressional Ethics. The OCE undertook 69
preliminary reviews in 2009 and 2010, while the House ethics committee
doled out 11 disciplinary actions in that same time, more than twice its
activity level during the Jack Abramoff scandal years of 2006 to
2008. The Ethics Committee took no action around the Abramoff scandals
during that period.
Press Conference Details
What: Press conference in support of maintaining the Office of Congressional Ethics When: Thursday, Dec. 2,10:30 a.m. EST Where: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2203 Who: Campaign Legal Center - Policy Director Meredith McGehee Common Cause - President Bob Edgar Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - Policy Director Jeremy Miller Democracy 21 - President Fred Wertheimer Judicial Watch - President Tom Fitton League of Women Voters - Executive Director Nancy Tate National Taxpayers Union - Executive Vice President Pete Sepp PIRG - Director of Federal Office Gary Kalman Public Citizen - Government Affairs Lobbyist Craig Holman Taxpayers for Common Sense - President Ryan Alexander
Contact: Campaign Legal Center, David G. Vance,
(202) 736-2200; Common Cause, Mary Boyle (202) 736-5770; CREW, Garrett
Russo, (202) 408-5565; Democracy 21, Erin Kesler, (202) 355-9600;
Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton (202) 646-5172; League of Women Voters, Kelly
Ceballos, (202) 263-1331; National Taxpayers Union, Pete Sepp, (703)
683-5700; Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, (202) 646-5172; Public Citizen,
Angela Bradbery (202) 588-7741; Taxpayers for Common Sense, Steve Ellis
(202) 546-8500.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans and pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes, a move the White House described as "the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
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According to a White House fact sheet, those who received commutations "have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the Covid-era CARES Act," a law that extended the amount of time in which people could be placed in home confinement to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons.
The White House did not name those who received pardons or commutations but said the list includes a "decorated military veteran," a "nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters," and "an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose."
The Biden Justice Department paused federal executions in 2021, but President-elect Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to expand the use of the death penalty and is expected to allow the executions of the 40 men on death row to take place if they're still there when he takes office next month.
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