Minutes after being sworn in by the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor spoke on the floor and took on the important issue of ethics.

As a member of the powerful Rules committee, Castor was the first freshman to speak on the floor of the 110^th Congress.

Castor helped introduce a package that extends the Rules of the Republican led 109^th Congress, but goes even further, addressing reforms that voters stressed in the recent election, which gave control back to the Democrats. The package will prohibit Members from accepting gifts from lobbyists, restrict Member travel on corporate airplanes, and offer ethics training to Members and staff.

The new rules will also include a fair and open process for the holding of open votes, and clear guidelines for the operation of conference committees and final conference committee report actions.

Members will also have to certify that they or their spouses do not have a personal financial interest in an earmark request.

“After recent tumultuous events, I am sure that we can all agree that our neighbors back home want to see Congress hold itself more accountable for its collective actions,” said Castor. “Provisions for more stringent fiscal responsibility and pay-as-you-go budget requirements will ultimately aid our neighbors back home in reducing their own debt load, while the Federal government begins to do its part to ease the financial crunch so many feel across the nation.”

As a member of the Hillsborough County Commission, Castor championed ethics reforms as a tool to make the inner workings of county government more transparent in Tampa Bay. She is doing the same in Congress.

“I am excited and proud to be part of a new, historic Congress, and am glad to stand in support of this legislation,” she said.