Republican congressional candidate Martha Rainville called Tuesday for the creation of a special ethics office to oversee Congress, a ban on gifts to members of Congress, including trips, and a two-year delay before members or their staff can become lobbyists.

Her Democratic opponent, Peter Welch, countered that he had proposed similar restrictions back in May. In a May 4 news release, Welch called for a ban on lobbyist-funded trips and increased disclosure of lobbying.

Rainville, the recently retired head of the Vermont National Guard, leaned on her military background and said a new ethics office should be modeled after the Inspector General's Office the Guard has. The office would investigate ethical complaints in a more un-partisan way than the current congressional ethics committees do, she said.

"That's not been effective," she said.

- Terri Hallenbeck