Former GOP Representatives to send an “open letter” to Speaker Hastert today urging an immediate re-instatement of House Ethics Committee rules Washington – In a strongly worded letter, ten former Members of Congress – all Republicans – called on their party’s leadership in the House of Representatives to fix the ethics process. The letter, signed by former Representatives from nine states across the nation, criticized the handling of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s scandals and the firing of the Chairman of the House Ethics Committee, as well as the rewriting of the Committee’s rules: “We felt grave concern when the Republican leadership changed the ethics rules several weeks ago to require a bipartisan majority vote to even investigate a charge of ethical misconduct. We saw it as an obvious action to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay who had been admonished three times by the Ethics Committee for well-publicized misuse of money and/or power. “We felt even greater concern when the leadership then fired Chairman Joel Hefley and two other members of the Committee, replacing them with Members who had either given to or received funds from Mr. DeLay. “We respectfully suggest it would be good for the party and the country if the Republican majority were to join Chris Shays of Connecticut in voting to reinstate the old rules.” The full text of the letter can be read at http://www.pcactionfund.org/ethics/. The letter was signed by the following former elected officials (with state and years served):

• Mark Andrews (North Dakota, House 1964-80, Senate 1981-87)
• John H. Buchanan (Alabama, House 1965-81)
• M. Caldwell Butler (Virginia, House 1972-82)
• Paul Findley (Illinois, House 1961-82)
• Bud Hillis (Indiana, House 1970-86)
• James Johnson (Colorado, House 1973-82)
• Richard W. Mallary (Vermont, House 1972-75)
• Wiley Mayne (Iowa, House 1967-75)
• Pete McCloskey (California, House 1967-83)
• G. William Whitehurst (Virginia, House 1969-87)

Public Campaign Action Fund, a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog organization, helped coordinate and distribute the letter, in part to dispel the notion put forth by those defending DeLay that the attention placed on the Majority Leader’s big money scandals is driven by partisanship. “Tom DeLay and so many of his colleagues are trying to divert the focus away from his scandals by crying that the attacks are partisan,” commented David Donnelly, political director of PCAF, which works to advance comprehensive campaign finance reform. “But they’re dead wrong. People of all political affiliations are deeply concerned about Tom DeLay’s unethical, big money agenda. This is about DeLay’s own actions, which have dishonored and disgraced the People’s House, not about partisan politics. And it’s about his colleagues who refuse to hold him accountable,” Donnelly continued. As part of the organization’s efforts, television ads are currently running in three congressional districts calling on members of Congress to demand Tom DeLay’s resignation. Public Campaign Action Fund had previously run in three other districts earlier this month. An on-line petition launched a month ago by the group has yielded more than 32,000 signatures.