WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (D-RI), author of a bill to require all members of Congress to undergo annual ethics training, testified in front of the House Committee on Rules about incorporating his bill into the House Rules for the 114th Congress. At the start of each Congress, the House Committee on Rules adopts a new set of guidelines for the upcoming 2-year session. This week the Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House considered proposed rule changes that would take effect in the 114th Congress in January, 2015.

In an effort to restore the public’s confidence in Congress, Cicilline urged the Committee to adopt rules proposed in his bipartisan bill, the Ensuring Trust and Honorability In Congressional Standards (ETHICS) Act, which would require all members of the House of Representatives to complete annual ethics training. Currently, all Senators, Senate staff, and House staff are required to take ethics training every year, but House members do not. 

“Today I testified in front of my colleagues on the House Rules Committee to urge them to incorporate my bill to require all House members to take annual ethics training into the House Rules for the next Congress. While the current Rules of the House require all House staff to take annual ethics training, there is nothing in the Rules to require House members to undergo the same training,” said Cicilline.

In 2007, the U.S. Senate passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which legally required Senators and all Senate staff to take “ongoing” ethics training, in response to a culture of corruption on Capitol Hill that led to the convictions of former Representative Bob Ney and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Despite passing the House with nearly unanimous bipartisan support, the mandatory ethics training provisions in the bill only applied to the Senate. The ETHICS Act would amend and expand current law to require House Members to take annual ethics training.

“The perceived attitude that the rules do not apply to us contributes significantly to the American people’s lack of trust in its elected leaders. By making ourselves subject to the rules that already apply to staff and to members of the Senate, we can take an important step forward in reversing this trend,” Cicilline continued.

In July, U.S. Representatives Cicilline and Scott Rigell (R-VA) introduced the ETHICS Act to make ethics training and awareness programs mandatory for House members, Delegates and the Resident Commissioner of the House of Representatives beginning January 3, 2015 with the requirement that training must be completed no later than 60 days after starting service and training must be completed during each new session of Congress.  Currently there are 57 bipartisan cosponsors on the ETHICS Act.

The full text of Cicilline’s remarks as prepared for delivery follow:

Thank you Chairman Nugent and Ranking Member McGovern, and members of the Subcommittee for giving me the opportunity to testify today as you consider updates to the rules governing the House of Representatives for the 114th Congress.

I am proposing a simple, common sense change to the House Rules to require all members to undergo mandatory annual ethics training offered by the House Ethics Committee, as our staffs, Senate staff, and members of the Senate are required to do.

It seems like an obvious requirement that every member of this body should have a clear and complete understanding of the rules and regulations that govern the House of Representatives.  While we often rely on our staff to know the ins and outs of House Ethics rules, we should have a full understanding of ethics rules and be willing to accept responsibility to become familiar with these rules.

This oversight in the House Rules only perpetuates the perception that Congress believes the rules don’t apply to us and it only increases the public’s distrust of Congress. Updating the House Rules to require members undergo annual ethics training is a simple step we can take to help restore the public’s faith and confidence in Congress.

I recently introduced legislation with Congressman Scott Rigell, to require annual ethics training for all House members after we discovered that the 2007 Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which required Senators and their staff to undergo annual ethics training did not apply to House members. Our bill has received widespread support from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

A recent article in the Washington Post indicated that since 2009 the number of actions taken by the House Ethics Committee has doubled from the previous decade.  According to Public Citizen, much of this can be attributed to the fact that most House members are often not aware of what House ethics rules have to say on a particular issue.

For example, members who use social media are often confused about what type of information they can share on their official page and what information they should share on their campaign page. A lack of understanding of the House ethics rules can make it easy for members to violate the rules without even realizing it.

In its most recent report, the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent board charged with investigating ethics complaints against the members of the House of Representatives, said that nearly half of the complaints it has reviewed since 2009 have been campaign related.  Ensuring members are provided with clarification of rules separating campaign and official activity will help to reduce those instances.

Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, I hope that my testimony today has presented a strong case to amend the House Rules.  Thank you for your time and consideration.