"I'm not here to discuss the Democrats' agenda."

That's my favorite.

Okay so here's what's going on. Unlike most committees the ethics committee has equal representation by both parties. Under the previous (108th congress) rules a tie vote in the ethics committee would mean the committee would act on whatever it was they're voting on. But under the new rules (109th) a tie means "status quo". Aka they've gutted the entire point of the ethics committee.

DeLay's (Broken) Record