A large group of Freshman Democrats know that one of they keys to their election in 2006 was changing the meaning of "business-as-usual" on Capitol Hill, whether that meant ending the Bush rubberstamp on Iraq or how Congress conducts itself. While a big chunk of the old-timers is resisting ethics reform, the Freshman are pushing a new effort:

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy spearheaded an effort by freshman representatives Wednesday to call for an independent and bipartisan ethics panel to investigate complaints against lawmakers. "Clearly the Ethics Committee that Congress has today doesn't work," said Murphy, D-5th Dist. "The process that's in place right now requires congressional members to investigate their friends and colleagues. "It's time for a change. The voters sent me here to drain down the swamp that's become Washington, D.C. That's what I intend to do."

The proposal is meeting significant resistance in the caucus. Despite that, Murphy and his colleagues including Zack Space, Baron Hill, Paul Hodes, and Betty Sutton along with a dozen or so others, are pushing the Special Task Force on Ethics Enforcement to consider their proposal. The task force was set up to determine how Congress could police its own more effectively after the travesty of Bob Ney, in which the existing House Ethics Committee did nothing.

The Freshman proposal would create a wholly independent, bipartisan panel comprised of members of the public. Or, you know, consitutents. It woud vet, initiate, and conduct investigations. This push to have an external, independent review board should be strongly considered by the task force. While the majority of Members of Congress are honest and ethical, their integrity is hugely sullied by a bad few. The Ney and Foley sagas aren't the first time that a bad few, like Tom DeLay, Dennis Hastert, and Doc Hastings were in a position to scuttle investigations, and it won't be the last.

Last fall, we voted for real reform, for transparency, and for change. No one understands that better than the Freshman class that swept the Congress back to a Democratic majority. The leadership needs to recognize that and to give them a seat at the table in shaping reform.