For Pelosi, 'House Cleaning' May Have to Start With Two of Democrats' Own
by Chad Groening
December 14, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The head of a Washington, DC-based organization that promotes ethics in public life says incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will get the chance to prove she is serious about ethics reform when she takes over leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives next year. Right away, Pelosi will have to deal with ethics questions surrounding two members of her own Democratic Party who want prominent committee assignments, and this presents the majority party leader with a dilemma. Earlier this year she removed Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson from his post on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee after the Federal Bureau of Investigation videotaped him allegedly receiving a $100,000 bribe.
Despite being still under FBI investigation, Jefferson was re-elected, and the Congressional Black Caucus wants him reinstated to the committee. Meanwhile, Pelosi must also decide whether to appoint West Virginia Democrat Allan Mollohan -- who is also being investigated by the FBI -- to a leadership post on the Appropriations Committee.
Ken Boehm of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) says Pelosi would like to have Mollohan on Appropriations but would not like Jefferson on Ways and Means, because she had already removed the Louisiana Democrat from that post prior to the election. The incoming House Speaker probably cannot follow both of her inclinations, Boehm points out, because "then that does look like she has a double standard."
Pelosi needs to say no to both men, the NLPC spokesman asserts. "Anything else and I think she's open to a lot of legitimate criticism," he says. And that, he points out, Pelosi cannot afford, since she has already blundered in her effort to get John Murtha elected majority leader, despite his involvement with the Abscam scandal.
The FBI sting operation known as Abscam originally targeted traffickers in stolen property but grew into a grand-scale political corruption investigation, which ultimately led to the convictions of six members of Congress, one U.S. senator, and several other government officials. Murtha was among a number of members of Congress who were videotaped during encounters with undercover Bureau operatives. Although the Pennsylvania Democrat was never indicted or prosecuted, he was labeled an "un-indicted co-conspirator" in the case.
If this kind of thing happens a few more times, Pelosi may become "one of the shortest-served speakers in House history," Boehm contends. "She's either serious about cleaning up the House in terms of ethics or she isn't," he says, "and what she does with Jefferson and what she does with Mollohan are the litmus test. That, literally, will be the test to see whether she was serious or it was all just talk."
In the meantime, Boehm observes, it would be best if Pelosi puts both the Jefferson and the Mollohan appointments on hold until investigations into the two men are resolved. The House Democratic Steering Committee has already decided not to allow Jefferson to return to Ways and Means until the FBI's investigation has concluded, and the full Democratic Caucus must still vote on the recommendation.
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
