Legislative Integrity Quotes

If I invite a lobbyist to come in and help write a bill, I have sold out…. It is my responsibility to write legislation…. I have had it up to here with bills that have been written by lobbyists to the benefit of them and the detriment of the people.

And, finally, as a Republican, I believe it is important to keep our word and keep our covenant, and that is exactly what we should do with the Wright amendment today.

Resolved, that the conduct of the Senator from Wisconsin, Mr. McCarthy, is unbecoming a Member of the United States Senate, is contrary to senatorial traditions, and tends to bring the Senate into disrepute, and such conduct is hereby condemned.

In a Congressional ethics investigation of members there is a conflict of interest…in a sense, the norms and practices of the institution are on trial.

Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature. . . . If the next centennial does not find us a great nation . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.

We deserve a president of the United States who will write laws for all Americans, not for campaign contributors. And I intend to be a president for all Americans who takes back the flag of our country because it doesn't belong to any party, doesn't belong to any president.

Congress should live by the same laws it passes on to the rest of the nation.

As we enter into the 110th Congress, it is imperative that we address ethics reforms needed to make this institution run correctly.

I weep for the liberty of my country when I see at this early day of its successful experiment that corruption has been imputed to many members of the House of Representatives, and the rights of the people have been bartered for promises of office.

You can reform a political culture, but it’s a big lift. First, the voters would have to convince the legislators that they’re being watched by someone other than the lobbyists. Then they’d have to press for laws that would force a change of behavior, like nonpartisan redistricting and ethics reform. Then the voters would have to follow up, year after year, until the old guard was replaced by a whole new generation who went into politics with dreams of drafting serious legislation, rather than just bringing more stuff back into the district or, at worst, shaking down some landlord at the airport for a thousand bucks.

The first law I passed in my cabinet was a law eliminating the double salary for the prime minister and the ministers. I have a salary as member of parliament. I don't want a double salary. So it was a very important decision.

There's going to be a new code on Parliament Hill: bend the rules, you will be punished; break the law, you will be charged; abuse the public trust, you will go to prison.

The Constitution reflects in the most degrading and mortifying manner on the virtue, integrity, and wisdom of the state legislatures; it presupposes that the chosen few who go to Congress will have more upright hearts, and more enlightened minds, than those who are members of individual [state] legislatures.

As a member of Congress, I strongly believe I have a responsibility to be truthful, even if that means delivering difficult news.

We´re opening a process against 15% of Congress members. I wonder if in any other part of the world such a massive inquiry in democracy has taken place. This means we´re beginning an in depth cleaning operation to recover the prestige of the Brazilian Legislative which has never had its image so tarnished.

It is not secret here in Congress we have not had the discipline in many instances to keep our hands out of the cookie jar of Social Security. Now to stop this I propose that in the future that Congress cannot get its hands on the money in the first place.

If we can't remove a member of Congress who has been convicted of 10 felonies - including using his office for personal gain - we risk losing the faith and trust of the American people that we have.

Bills of attainder, ex-post facto laws and laws impairing the obligation of contracts are contrary to the first principles of the social compact, and to every principle of sound legislation.

Ideal legislators do not vote their interests.

What havoc, said I to myself, would these manners make in America! Our governors, our judges, our senators or representatives, and even our ministers, would be appointed by harlots, for money; and their judgments, decrees, and decisions, be sold to repay themselves, or, perhaps, to procure the smiles of profligate females.

In Maine, we are fortunate to have a Clean Elections system that allows legislators to turn down corporate special interest money. At the national level, Congress should follow Maine's example by empowering the voices of small donors.

Our job in Congress is to serve the American people, and not enrich ourselves with special taxpayer-funded benefits.

It seems like basic principle to me. According to Senate ethics rules, Members of the U.S. Senate, and their families, cannot benefit personally and financially from legislative decisions they make. Senator Feinstein, apparently, either doesn't agree with this principle, or she has chosen to ignore it.

When it comes to reforming MPs' expenses, the answer is simply to keep it simple: show us receipts as they're claimed and, where there are abuses, enforce the law.

Once it becomes impossible for members of Congress to make a career of legislative service, the temptation to bend a vote for whatever reason may yield to the better angels of their nature.