From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics is a select committee of the United States Senate charged with dealing with matters related to senatorial ethics. It is also commonly referred to as the Senate Ethics Committee. Senate rules require the Ethics Committee to be evenly divided between the Democrats and the Republicans, no matter who controls the Senate.
The Committee is currently chaired on and by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California), and the Vice Chairman is Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). After Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) suffered from an aneurysm in December of 2006, Barbara Boxer was chosen to chair the Ethics Committee on an interim basis.[1] However, when Johnson returned to the Senate, he chose not to assume chairmanship of the Committee.
[edit] Usefulness
On May 8, 2008, the Senate Ethics Committee declined to investigate Senator David Vitter's connections to an escort service. Not seeing this as an issue worth looking into has put into question whether the Democrats' campaign for improved ethics in the 2006 midterm elections was sincere.
[edit] External links
[edit] References