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Ethics

Andy Card Discusses Ethics in Government
"First of all, I appreciate everyone who is working so hard for the American people and President Bush's administration. That applies to everyone, whether they're a political appointee or they've been a wonderful career employee."

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Guidance From The Office of Government Ethics

Ethics in Government starts with you, as a leader in your agency. In this section, we provide you with an introduction to Government ethics rules to familiarize you with some ethics issues that you may encounter in your Government job. It does not, however, cover the entire field of ethics law.

The Government ethics rules are the minimum acceptable standard of conduct. In other words, the rules spell out what is wrong, not what is right. Truly ethical conduct means doing less than the law allows and more than the law requires.

Being an ethical leader involves more than acting ethically. Being an ethical leader requires focusing an organization's attention on ethical issues and standards. Your employees will look to you as a role model for public integrity. In addition, as a leader in your agency, you are responsible for the ethical compliance of your employees. Take an active role in promoting the importance of ethical conduct in the Federal workplace. Your commitment to maintaining high ethical standards will help ensure that the employees in your agency exemplify the principle that public service is a public trust.

If you are faced with a situation in which you believe that the ethics rules are implicated, your first step should be to discuss the matter with one of your agency's ethics officials. The ethics officials are there to help you, and we urge you to seek their assistance whenever an ethics-related question arises. Click here for a list of ethics officials for each department and agency, courtesy of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) web site.

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