[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 308 Introduced in House (IH)]





105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 308

  Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the failure of 
  Attorney General Janet Reno to seek application for an independent 
counsel to investigate a number of matters relating to the financing of 
   campaigns in the 1996 Federal election, including the conduct of 
               President Clinton and Vice President Gore.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 24, 1998

  Mr. Barr of Georgia submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the failure of 
  Attorney General Janet Reno to seek application for an independent 
counsel to investigate a number of matters relating to the financing of 
   campaigns in the 1996 Federal election, including the conduct of 
               President Clinton and Vice President Gore.

Whereas the majority of the members of the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
        House of Representatives, in letters dated March 12, 1997, and September 
        3, 1997, requested that the Attorney General request the appointment of 
        an independent counsel to investigate a number of matters relating to 
        the financing of campaigns in the 1996 Federal election, including the 
        conduct of President Clinton and Vice President Gore;
Whereas the majority of the members of the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
        Senate, in a letter dated March 13, 1997, requested that the Attorney 
        General request the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate 
        a number of matters relating to the financing of campaigns in the 1996 
        Federal election, including the conduct of the President and the Vice 
        President;
Whereas the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louis Freeh, in a 
        memorandum sent to the Attorney General in November 1997, called for the 
        appointment of an independent counsel to investigate matters relating to 
        the financing of campaigns in the 1996 Federal election;
Whereas the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated in the 
        memorandum, ``It is difficult to imagine a more compelling situation for 
        appointing an independent counsel.'';
Whereas the Attorney General has denied the requests of the Committees on the 
        Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate to request the 
        appointment of an independent counsel to investigate a number of matters 
        relating to the financing of campaigns in the 1996 Federal election;
Whereas after a 10-month inquiry, Charles G. La Bella, the Chief of the 
        Department of Justice's campaign finance unit, has submitted a report to 
        the Attorney General stating there is no alternative but to seek an 
        independent counsel to investigate the political fundraising abuses in 
        President Clinton's reelection campaign; and
Whereas Mr. La Bella concluded that there was sufficient information to warrant 
        the appointment based on the mandatory and discretionary provisions of 
        the independent counsel statute: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) deplores the refusal of the Attorney General to seek 
        application for an independent counsel, pursuant to chapter 40 
        of title 28, United States Code, concerning the 1996 election 
        campaign of President William Jefferson Clinton and Vice 
        President Albert Gore;
            (2) condemns the continued control of the investigation by 
        the Attorney General, despite her actual conflict of interest 
        in investigating, among others, the President at whose pleasure 
        she serves, and the Vice President;
            (3) laments the loss of confidence of the American people 
        in their Department of Justice, engendered by this 
        investigation, which continues to undermine the notion of one 
        standard of justice for all Americans, regardless of position;
            (4) instructs the Attorney General to faithfully uphold and 
        execute the laws she has sworn to uphold, specifically by 
        seeking application for an independent counsel to investigate 
        the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, without further wrongful delay; 
        and
            (5) instructs the President to request that the Attorney 
        General seek application for an independent counsel to 
        investigate the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, without further 
        wrongful delay.
                                 <all>