WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House voted Tuesday to create an outside ethics office with the authority to investigate perceived ethical misconduct by its members.
The 229-182 vote creates the Office of Congressional Ethics, composed of three members appointed by the speaker and three appointed by the minority leader.
Current members of Congress, federal employees and lobbyists would not be eligible for appointment.
The committee will police only the House, not the Senate.
The office will have the ability to initiate its own reviews of conduct by members of Congress. It will then forward the results to the House ethics committee, which will review the recommendations and, in most cases, issue a public statement on its ruling.
With the creation of the office, the House "will -- for the first time -- open the ethics process up to the participation of our fellow citizens, which will make this institution more accountable to the American people.," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who promised a renewed focus on ethics when Democrats took control of Congress last year.
Ethics reform has been a hot topic in recent weeks after scandals involving lawmakers.
Pelosi said the new office will improve the transparency and timeliness of the ethics enforcement process. She called bringing non-members into the process "a significant departure from the traditions of the House."
"This kind of independent body has a track record of success at the state level. If House members make a good faith effort to let it work, the Office of Congressional Ethics will be a tremendous improvement to the current system," said Common Cause president Bob Edgar.
Most Republicans voted against the plan.
"It simply adds another layer of bureaucracy on top of an already broken system," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the ranking Republican on a committee Pelosi appointed to consider ethics reforms. "It creates an entirely new entity that invites yet more partisanship under undemocratic procedures."
Since Pelosi took office, the House has passed a bill aimed at restricting gifts and free travel for members and their staffs and another, also approved by the Senate, updating rules for lobbyists.
The Associated Press reported that under the new rules, it requires two members of the Office of Congressional Ethics, one from each party, to start a preliminary probe. Also, three board members must agree to move to a second-phase review. E-mail to a friend 
Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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