U.S. Congressman

Jason Altmire, D-4th, voted Tuesday for legislation that will strengthen the enforcement of sweeping ethics reforms enacted by Congress last year.The measure would require that any alleged ethics violations be reviewed by an independent group of individuals who are not members of Congress. This legislation passed by a vote of 229-182."Now, for the first time," Altmire said, "members of the American public will be the ones who determine whether claims of misconduct have any merit.Establishing this new Office of Congressional Ethics will make the ethics review process more transparent than ever before and will go a long way toward ensuring that unethical behavior by members of Congress is not swept under the rug."The new Office of Congressional Ethics established by this legislation will be a bipartisan, independent panel composed of six individuals appointed by the House Speaker and the House Minority Leader.Altmire said one member from each party must vote to launch an ethics review. This ensures investigations will not be instigated for political reasons.After the preliminary review, if three members on the panel agree that the investigation should move forward, the matter will be referred to the House Ethics Committee.The bill was endorsed by public interest groups, including Common Cause, U.S. PIRG, and Democracy 21.———U.S. Sens.

Bob Casey, D-Pa.,

Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and

Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., this week introduced an amendment to the 2009 federal budget that would create a reserve fund to guarantee that wounded combat veterans receive full payment of bonuses and incentives."Tens of thousands of troops have been injured in Iraq with many of them struggling to support themselves and their families," Casey said. "They gave us their word that they would serve and protect us at any cost."The very least we can do is to honor the promises we made to them by providing them with the benefits they deserve and have earned."In December, Casey, Sessions and Clinton introduced the Wounded Warrior Bonus Equity Act which requires payment of remaining bonus entitlement to service members within 90 days of retirement or separation due to a combat-related injury.The bill was introduced in response to a report of an injured service member from Pennsylvania being asked to repay his enlistment bonus.Additionally, the measure would also direct the Department of Defense to perform an internal audit to identify former service members who have been affected by this practice.