We'll determine how to best proceed in light of Mr. Mollohan's response.

That was the difficulty of it. Lobbying is a First Amendment right and we would not want to in any way chill the desire to petition the government or lobby the government.

Mr. Dreier would have had to give up his chairmanship of the Rules Committee to move to another position, and that's not something that he wanted to do.

Over the last decade, he has continued to have discussions on it, and most recently constitutional questions have been raised about outsiders looking at the ethics process.

We are looking at everything.

The budget reconciliation bill makes necessary adjustments to the growth of vital government programs serving the truly needy, without negatively impacting essential services provided to the most vulnerable members of our society. Fiscal responsibility is key to the long term viability of these critical programs.