Brian Fitzpatrick responding a national security question.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
For Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, Tuesday was a busy first day at his new job.
The congressman, a former FBI special agent, lawyer and accountant, introduced a package of anti-corruption legislation and stood up to efforts by fellow Republicans that aimed to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics.
Fitzpatrick, who was sworn in to replace his brother Tuesday around noon, was quick to vocally oppose a rules change that would essentially gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent body that reviews claims of misconduct by House of Representative members and their staff. The body has no prosecutorial power but its investigations can move to the more powerful Committee on Ethics.
“As a former FBI anti-corruption agent who put politicians behind bars, I know that politicians can’t be trusted to police themselves; an aggressive, independent watch dog is crucial,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “It’s obvious there is work that must be done to reform Congress- including its ethics procedures, but these changes should be holistic in addressing the problems, bipartisan in their implementation, and meet the high standards the American people deserve.”
By afternoon, Republicans had backed off plans to reduce the power of the Office of Congressional Ethics. Republican President-elect Donald Trump and numerous Democrats spoke out against the plan.
The anti-corruption legislation packages introduced several measures:
-Term Limits for Members of Congress (Constitutional amendment)
Limits members of the House of Representatives and Senate to 12 years of service total-No Budget, No Pay (Constitutional amendment)
Prevents members of Congress from being paid unless a budget is passed. Goes further than previous iterations of No Budget, No Pay by docking pay for time without a budget as opposed to simply putting member salaries in escrow until end of term.-Balanced Budget Amendment (Constitutional amendment)
Requires Congress to adopt a budget that balances like most states, including Pennsylvania and municipalities-Citizen Legislature Anti-Corruption Reform (CLEAN) Act (H.R)
Ends Congressional “pensions for life” and directs members toward standard 401K retirement savings accounts
Requires Congress to act on single-issue legislation
Codifies that all laws passed by Congress must apply to its members
Reforms the broken “Gerrymandering” process by moving all redistricting to independent, non-partisan commissions
Allows access to political party primaries for Independents or non-affiliated voters
The proposed changes to regulation aim to “reform our government, prevent corruption before it takes root, and return power to those whom this government belongs: the American people,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick’s brother did not run for another term in 2016 and said in various interviews that he believes in term limits. He told NewtownPANow.com last week that he hoped his brother set a term limit.
During election season, Fitzpatrick used his FBI and special prosecutor experience as a reason to vote for him to stop Washington D.C. corruption and elect an independent leader.
