Congresswoman Kat Cammack Issues Statement on the Censure of Rep. Chuck Edwards

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Kat Cammack (FL-03), Chair of the Republican Women's Caucus, released the following statement after the House voted 413-2 on Tuesday to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) following a bipartisan House Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct toward two staffers:

"Yesterday, I voted to censure Congressman Chuck Edwards.

I read the Ethics Committee's report, and I read his letter and his lawyers' response with the seriousness they deserve. He had every right to defend himself. It did not change my vote.

The Committee found a persistent pattern of unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young women on his staff, and he did not deny much of the underlying conduct. In fact, defends it. He defends the gifts and the poetry, and he defends traveling with a young woman who had only just left his office. His argument is that none of it broke a rule, and that is precisely the problem.

I was a congressional staffer myself before becoming a Member. I understand the responsibility Members have to the people who work for us. Members of Congress hold enormous power over the people who work for us. 'Technically permitted' is a low bar. Judgment is the standard.

I co-founded the Republican Women's Caucus to raise the standard in this institution, and that starts with how we treat the people who serve alongside us. Two young women left his office, and the Committee said the House lost them because of his conduct.

Congress cannot ask the American people to trust this body if we refuse to hold ourselves accountable. Yesterday's vote was accountability after the fact. My work with Chairwoman Leger Fernández and the Democratic Women's Caucus is about making sure the next staffer never has to get that far. We will have more to share on that work soon."

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