:T<br >Preface<br > ongress celebrated its recent bicentennial with<br > appropriate speeches and ceremonies honoring<br > the institution and the thousands of men and<br > women who served there since 1789. Understand-<br >ably， the speakers glossed over or skipped entirely<br > the darker side of congressional history--the crimes<br > and other misdeeds committed by a relative handful<br > of senators and representatives.<br > But in its workaday world of lawmaking， Con-<br >gress cannot look the other way when one of its<br >members is caught acting illegally or immorally. It<br >must face up to the fact and punish or clear the<br >alleged wrongdoer.<br > Congress carries out this constitutional obliga-<br >tion with a variety of disciplinary tools， including<br >one spelled out in the Constitution--expulsion if<br >two-thirds of the chamber concur that it is<br >warranted.<br > In recent years the House and Senate ethics<br >committees have been busier than ever investigating<br >complaints against members and recommending<br >whatever action is necessary. Usually the parent<br >body goes along with the committee s<br >recommendation.<br > The 1980s and early 1990s in particular pro-<br >duced a bumper crop of ethics cases， including one<br >that resulted in the first expulsion for corruption<br >in either house of Congress. The same period has<br >seen three senators formally disciplined for mis-<br >conduct involving personal or campaign funds，<br >and repre~entative~ censured or reprimanded<br >for sexual or financial offenses. Numerous others<br >were admonished by the ethics committees， de-<br >feated for reelection， or escaped punishment by<br >resigning.<br > Congress s already low standing in public opin-<br >ion polls was further degraded by other scandals，<br >such as surreptitious pay raises and wholesale<br >check kiting at the House s own bank. Small<br >wonder that Congress moved in 1989-91 to im-<br >prove its image by passing tougher ethics codes and<br >doing away with the acceptance of honoraria--a<br >popular means for interest groups to circumvent<br >restrictions on gifts to lawmakers.<br >How This Book Is Organized<br > Congressional Ethics covers all aspects of the con-<br > gressional disciplinary process， from the basic<br > methods of punishment to the specific cases that<br > triggered the various investigations and the result-<br > mg committee or floor action.<br >vii<br ><br >