March 17, 2008

 Dear Constituent,

Fighting for more accountability and transparency in Congress is one of my highest priorities. Southern Arizonans want an end to extreme partisanship, cronyism and corruption in Washington. To change the way business is done on Capitol Hill, we must put measures in place that let the public know the process is working for them.

That is why on Tuesday, March 11th I voted for H. Res. 895, a resolution to strengthen congressional ethics enforcement in the U.S. House of Representatives. It established a new independent, bipartisan Office of Congressional Ethics that, for the first time in history, allows an independent review of alleged ethics violations. It was supported by a majority of the House in a 229 to 182 vote.

The Office of Congressional Ethics is a big step in the right direction. The American people have entrusted their elected representatives with tremendous responsibility. Most members of Congress take that responsibility very, very seriously. For those who do not, there should be consequences.

The Office of Congressional Ethics will be led by a six-member panel jointly appointed by the House Speaker and Minority Leader. To ensure its impartiality, current House members and lobbyists will be ineligible to serve on the panel. At least one Democratic appointee and one Republican appointee must approve a request to launch an investigation.

Creation of the office is part of an ongoing effort by the 110th Congress to root out the kind of corruption that plagued previous Congresses. I have already supported the strongest ethics rules since the Watergate era, including:

Honest Leadership Package (H. Res. 6). As its first act, the House passed an extensive ethics rules overhaul. The new rules package banned gifts and meals from lobbyists, as well as tightened restrictions on travel paid for by outside groups. The new rules also reformed the earmark process, by formally defining an earmark, requiring members to certify that neither they nor their spouses will benefit from an earmark, and most importantly, making the written requests of members for earmarks public. Passed with a bipartisan vote of 430-1.

Pension Forfeiture Act (H.R. 476). This legislation stripped the congressional pensions of members convicted of felonies related to their official duties. Passed with a bipartisan vote of 431-0.

 Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (H.R. 2316). This bill requires members and staff to recuse themselves from pertinent legislation when negotiating future employment, creates more thorough and frequent disclosures of lobbying activities in an online, searchable database, and mandates disclosure of campaign contributions "bundled" by lobbyists (collecting multiple campaign checks for a member of Congress). Additionally, the bill requires registered lobbyists to disclose when they request earmarks from members of Congress and their staffs. Passed with a bipartisan vote of 396-22.

Freedom of Information Act Amendments (H.R. 1309). This bill strengthens the Freedom of Information Act to make the federal government more transparent. Passed by a bipartisan vote of 308-117.

Earmark Reform. As one of the few Members of Congress to fully disclose the list of funding requests for my district, I believe that our government must be accessible to all Americans. Ultimately, these are your taxpayer dollars and I believe that it is import for you to know what I requested and why. To see a full list of my Fiscal Year 2009 funding requests, please visit my website, www.giffords.houe.gov, this week.

I always appreciate hearing from constituents, like you, who are informed and interested about issues of importance to Arizona and the nation. My job as your representative is to help you connect with federal agencies, access services and get your questions answered thoroughly. Please do not hesitate to contact me again in the future if you require assistance and sign-up for e-news updates on my website at www.giffords.house.gov.

 Sincerely Yours,



Gabrielle Giffords
Member of Congress