Melanie Sloan Quotes (26 Quotes)

If rooting out corruption in the House of Representatives is truly a priority for both parties, then we ask a member, any member, to put their money where their mouth is and file this complaint against Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt. We urge members to end the ethics 'truce' and cease abdicating their responsibility to police the conduct of their colleagues.

You have to have power to abuse it. You would be foolish to give money to a Democrat because they wouldn't be able to deliver anything.

An indictment is just the first step in the ever-evolving scandal involving Abramoff and the GOP Leadership. Now, Rep. Ney has some explaining to do. Given that Rep. Ney knew enough about SunCruz, Adam Kidan and Gus Boulis to insert comments about them in the Congressional Record, the House ethics committee should find out what else Rep. Ney knew about Abramoff's illegal activities.

It is time for our representatives to take their constitutional obligation to police themselves seriously, an obligation that members of both political parties have ignored to the detriment of the American people.

The Democrats lost in large part because of the ethics problems. Now only 11 years later, we have the Republicans acting just like the Democrats and maybe even worse. Worse yet, they're acting like nobody cares even though their approval rating is only 36 percent, a low comparable to the '94 approval rating of the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Rep. Jefferson's conduct shows a blatant disregard for the rule of law and the integrity of the House of Representatives. We urge a member of the House to ignore the long-standing ethics truce and file CREW's complaint with the House Ethics Committee today.

Why did Sen. Frist suddenly decide to sell the stock in June after holding the stock for so long Also, did the Senator order the sale based on insider knowledge that the value of the stock was about to decline precipitously

Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, said, The NIGC is either running a lackluster investigation or illegally withholding documents, or both. Regardless, the American public deserves to know what NIGC's dealings were with these officials, including now-indicted former GSA Chief of Staff David Safavian and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay. ... We will not sit by and allow the Administration to ignore the law and their responsibilities to the public. We will fight to learn the extent of Jack Abramoff's influence in Congress and the Administration.

Lobbying is cost-effective only for those who can pay for lobbyists. Those with an opposing view won't be heard as well as those with lots of money.

It's breaking house rules which prevent a member from using travel funds for anything but their own travel. And it breaks federal Election Commission law, which requires that only campaign funds be used for campaign expenses.

The noose is tightening around his neck. DeLay was running a criminal enterprise out of his office. There was no way he did not know what was going on.

not only has Sen. Frist likely engaged in illegal activity, he has also been attempting to cover up his actions by suddenly finding a conflict of interest that he never before recognized. Sen. Frist would be wise to consider Martha Stewart's case as he continues down this path.

It doesn't seem to me that someone should get a tax deduction while they're writing public relations memos about how people should be able to smoke in restaurants.

The only way to get an FOI request honored these days is to go to court. We can go to court and win, but some regular person is not going to know how to file a complaint in federal court and prepare a brief arguing that the administration is in violation of the law. And no one has endless resources to fight every denial. It's very effective, what they've done. They keep the information hidden.

The timing thus raised questions about whether Frist had somehow traded on information he obtained in advance from the company. Frist has been in the Senate for many years now, and the conflict is not new, ... Why did he decide to sell it then Why not years ago What's changed Did he know that the stock was about to take a fall

The little trust Americans had in Congress will once again be destroyed by greedy and unscrupulous members of Congress that care more about their skybox seats and golf trips than upholding the law.

The House has completely abdicated its constitutional responsibility to police itself. There is still no member of Congress, in either party, willing to file an ethics complaint.

Republican culture of corruption. There are so many corrupt members of Congress. By no means are all of the problems gone.

Rep. Johnson abused the public trust by using the power of his office to harass an organization which had taken a position with which he disagreed. Such actions are specifically prohibited by federal law and ethics rules and the House ethics committee should immediately commence an investigation into Rep. Johnson's disgraceful conduct.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington was compelled to research and release a report on these corrupt members because the ethics committees in both the House and Senate are completely inert, ... The report calls for the House and Senate to act to investigate and take appropriate action against them for these violations of the rules.

Special interests do get more and they do get what they pay for despite the constant denial that lawmakers can't be bought,

No matter what level of corruption the members of Congress engage in, the ethics committees do nothing. It's a national embarrassment.

The House Ethics Committee doesn't look at anything.

It is outrageous that outsiders can't file complaints, since Congress has demonstrated its unwillingness to police its own conduct.

Particularly in the House, the progress is very slow and may end up with very little reform.

It's a reform bill in name only, and they're hoping no one will notice.