April 15, 2005

The Hon. J. Dennis Hastert
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
235 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Speaker Hastert,

We write as former Members of Congress who served under impeccably honest leaders, Gerry Ford, Bob Michel and John Rhodes. We saw Republican Senators Margaret Chase Smith, Barry Goldwater and Bob Dole and many others bring integrity and class to the U.S. Senate.

We were proud of the ethics rules initiated when Republicans took control of the House in 1994 after a period of 42 years of Democratic domination which had been accompanied by ethics scandals from Adam Clayton Powell to Abscam to Speaker Jim Wright of Texas.

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.

We offer no judgment on Mr. DeLay’s actions in the obtaining of funds and favors from lobbyists and foreign agencies other than to note that they are the subject of continuing disclosure and discussion well outside the Beltway and in the heart of areas of strong respect for traditional Republican values of honesty and accountability. This is a matter for the House in its wisdom to determine.

The consensus in our respective districts, however, and we presume yours, is that the previous admonitions to Mr. DeLay for casting discredit on the House were well merited.

It has been many years since any of us joined in Dear Colleague letters. We write not as a Revolt of the Elders but in the sincere hope that you will act to restore public confidence in the People’s House.

Respectfully,

• 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)