[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 23 (Monday, March 7, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          WHITE HOUSE POLITICS

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, as the Whitewater controversy grows, it is 
not surprising that the political charges are heating up as well.
  Last week, President Clinton himself made the unfortunate claim that 
Republicans are somehow responsible for the latest Whitewater woes, 
stating that we have acted in a ``fairly blatant, bald, and totally 
political way.'' And yesterday, White House aide George Stephanopolous 
forgot the presidential campaign was over, suggesting on national 
television that Republicans are somehow ginning up Whitewater for our 
own political advantage.
  Mr. President, notwithstanding these charges, which I reject, it is 
the Democrat Congress that continues to block Whitewater hearings. It 
was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee who played 
``political tough guy'' when he tried to intimidate Senator D'Amato  
with a threatening letter notable only for its clumsiness. It was not a 
Republican National Committee newsletter that ran editorials with 
titles like ``Slovenly White House Ethics,'' ``White House Ethics 
Meltdown,'' and ``Mr. Nussbaum Goes--Not the Mess.'' That is the New 
York Times and the Washington Post.
  And, Mr. President, the biggest political players in town are 
apparently in the White House itself: In travelgate, and now in 
Whitewater, White House staff have played with fire, showing a brazen 
willingness to mix politics with law enforcement.
  The bottom line is: Whitewater is a case study in self-immolation--
omissions, misstatements of fact, negotiated subpoenas, 
behind-the-scenes meetings--have all created the impression that there 
is something to hide, that there is something unseemly lurking in the 
Whitewater bog.

  I may be wrong, and I hope I am wrong.
  Mr. President, last week, 43 Senate Republicans sent a letter to the 
distinguished majority leader stating that we will hold up the 
nomination of Ricki Tigert, President Clinton's nominee to head the 
FDIC, unless the Senate Banking Committee has the opportunity to 
thoroughly examine the recently revealed White House-RTC-Treasury 
meetings. It is my hope that the Democrat leadership in Congress will 
work with Republicans to schedule these hearings so that the American 
people can get a full accounting of the Whitewater mess.
  Again: if there has been no wrongdoing, there should be nothing to 
hide. As I pointed out last week, the Congressional Research Service 
has prepared a memorandum listing more than 20 congressional hearings 
and investigations into alleged executive branch wrongdoing during the 
Reagan and Bush administrations. The Democrat-controlled Congress has 
never been shy about exercising its oversight responsibilities--and 
there is no reason to make an exception for Whitewater.
  If Congress fails to exercise its oversight responsibilities, if we 
do not hold hearings, then we expose ourselves to the charge of being 
willing accomplices to whatever wrongdoing may have occurred.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that editorials from 
yesterday's New York Times and Washington Post be printed in the 
Record. I also ask unanimous consent that the memorandum from the 
Congressional Research Service be printed in the Record, as well.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, Mar. 6, 1994]

                     Repairing the White House Mess

       Robert Fiske has stepped into the Whitewater mess with 
     precisely the authority and integrity that the White House, 
     particularly in the person of Bernard Nussbaum, has so 
     conspicuously failed to exhibit over the last few months.
       By serving subpoenas on 10 senior White House and Treasury 
     Department officials, Mr. Fiske, the special counsel 
     appointed to look into the Whitewater case, has also served 
     notice that he is expanding his inquiry to include the three 
     extraordinary White House meetings at which the Resolution 
     Trust Corporation's probe of a failed savings and loan 
     association with close ties to the President and Mrs. Clinton 
     was discussed.
       The members of the Congressional banking committees, 
     including reluctant Democrats, clearly have an interest in 
     this matter. There are, for example, numerous regulatory 
     issues involving the failed Arkansas savings and loan, 
     Madison Guaranty. Moreover, senior officials at the agencies 
     for which the committees have oversight responsibility have 
     behaved improperly--notably Roger Altman, the Deputy Treasury 
     Secretary, and Jean Hanson, Treasury counsel. They gave 
     private briefings at the White House to keep Mr. Nussbaum, 
     the White House counsel, and others posted on the R.T.C.'s 
     investigation into Madison and the bank's dealings with the 
     Clintons and their friends.
       There is certainly a public value in having Congress 
     conduct a carefully targeted examination of the incestuous 
     relationships between the White House and Federal 
     investigatory bodies. Nevertheless, Congress should think 
     twice before launching a parallel investigation of the whole 
     history of Madison and the Whitewater development deal back 
     in Arkansas. Such an inquiry, especially in the current 
     partisan environment, could easily turn into an unpending 
     political circus, and even worse, jeopardize Mr. Fiske's 
     independent inquiry and his ability to bring prosecutions, if 
     warranted.
       As for President Clinton, he has finally moved to repair 
     the damage by his amateurish White House operation by 
     persuading Mr. Nussbaum to return to private life. Mr. 
     Nussbaum played a prominent part in other White House 
     embarrassments, including the misuse of the F.B.I. in the 
     Travelgate affair, the failure to properly vet various 
     Presidential nominees and the apparent interference with the 
     Park Service's investigation of the suicide of Vincent 
     Foster, the deputy White House counsel. Given those past 
     indiscretions, it was not surprising that Mr. Nussbaum was a 
     central figure at all three of the improper White House 
     meetings on Whitewater. It remains to be learned whether he 
     was acting at Mr. Clinton's request.
       There are two immediate lessons here. One is that Mr. 
     Clinton desperately needs to get some good strong people 
     around him to provide the White House with sound management 
     and an ethical compass. The second is that the special 
     prosecutor, Mr. Fiske, may have an even more challenging job 
     than he, or anyone else, originally imagined.
                                  ____


                [From the Washington Post, Mar. 6, 1994]

                    Mr. Nussbaum Goes--Not the Mess

       Neither Bernard Nussbaum, who resigned yesterday as White 
     House counsel, nor Treasury Deputy Secretary Roger Altman and 
     seven other senior White House and Treasury Department 
     officials will be spending March 10 in their offices engaged 
     in the duties that brought them to town. Mr. Nussbaum and the 
     others will be queued up before a federal grand jury in 
     Washington, compelled by subpoena to testify under oath about 
     the circumstances under which they discussed the status of a 
     federal probe of the Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan, a 
     failed Arkansas institution with ties to the Clintons. That 
     date with the grand jury will be a day of public disgrace for 
     the administration.
       But more than humiliation is involved in this case. Since 
     the Madison failure and the abortive Whitewater land venture 
     erupted as issues, White House staff have been nothing but a 
     problem. Their clumsy and sophomoric attempts at political 
     damage control have only added to the impression that there 
     is something not quite right about the Clintons' Arkansas 
     political and business dealings and that the First Family has 
     something to hide. That may turn out not to be true--the 
     president says not--but his staff haven't helped him with his 
     case at all.
       They are giving the grand jury much to sort out. We 
     especially have in mind the September get-together between 
     Mr. Nussbaum and Treasury General Counsel Jean Hanson. In 
     that meeting, Ms. Hanson reportedly disclosed that the 
     Resolution Trust Corp. was poised to ask the Justice 
     Department to conduct a criminal probe into Madison, and that 
     the Clintons were named as possible beneficiaries of the 
     S&L's illegal activities. The grand jury will undoubtedly 
     want to know whether Mr. Nussbaum or any other White House 
     staff members with knowledge of the coming RTC action shared 
     that information with the Clintons. (If so, Mr. Clinton's 
     criticism of the Treasury-White House meetings will ring a 
     little hollow.) But in either case, with questions like this 
     staring at the president, and with Republicans accusing the 
     administration of trying to manipulate an independent 
     regulatory agency, it's hard to imagine a worse way for staff 
     to protect the boss's interests.
       That explains the anger many of the more seasoned figures 
     in the administration have for Mr. Nussbaum. Though the 
     president accepted Mr. Nussbaum's resignation ``with deep 
     regret,'' many of Mr. Nussbaum's senior associates apparently 
     aren't shedding many tears. They see him as having allowed 
     the White House to slip and slide into improprieties that a 
     child of 4 could have figured out. Mr. Nussbaum said he was 
     taking his leave because of the ``controversy generated by 
     those who do not understand, or wish to understand, the role 
     and obligations of a lawyer.'' We offer another possibility. 
     Mr. Nussbaum not only failed to keep his principal client out 
     of trouble; he also generated much of the controversy and 
     troubles himself. Going back to Travelgate, when Mr. Nussbaum 
     saw nothing wrong in having the FBI announce there was 
     evidence of criminal wrongdoing--in violation of bureau 
     policy--to his mishandling of key nominations and the 
     aftermath of Vincent Foster's suicide, to the current White 
     House-Treasury encounters, this has been the case. Whatever 
     he thinks of himself as a lawyer, Mr. Nussbaum was truly 
     miscast as White House counsel.
                                  ____


  [From the Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC, Jan. 26, 
                                 1994]

                               Memorandum

       Subject: Published Hearings and Reports Concerning 
     Congressional Investigations of Alleged Improprieties by 
     Administration Officials or Their Family Members, 1981-1992
       Author: George Mangan, Paralegal Specialist
       In response to Congressional requests on the subject, the 
     following list has been prepared. It was assembled by 
     consulting indexes of Congressional documents compiled by 
     Congressional Information Service [CIS], Inc., a private 
     company which reproduces Congressional publications on 
     microfilm. CIS produces an annual index of Congressional 
     documents and a companion volume of brief abstracts of each 
     document, in the case of hearings giving a citation, dates, 
     witnesses, and a brief summary of the subject matter covered.
       Index entries checked for this survey were: Conflict of 
     Interests, Corruption and Bribery, Ethics in Government Act, 
     Financial Disclosure, Iran-Contra Affair, Lobbying, and 
     Political Ethics.
       In cases in which a large number of hearings were held on 
     the same matter, only one report or hearing has been listed. 
     Documents appear in chronological order by year of 
     publication, not necessarily the year hearings were held or 
     investigations conducted. When discussion of allegations of 
     improper or unethical behavior occurred on only one day in a 
     series of hearings, only that date has been given. 
     Descriptive summaries are quoted in relevant part from the 
     CIS abstracts of the publications.


                                  1981

       Report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on 
     the Casey Inquiry. December, 1981. S. Rpt. 97-1. Staff 
     investigation of allegations concerning CIA Director William 
     J. Casey, ``. . . including the propriety of his private 
     business dealings and previous Government service and 
     circumstances surrounding the appointment of Max Hugel as 
     Deputy Director of Operations, CIA.''


                                  1982

       Environmental Protection Agency: Private Meetings and Water 
     Protection Programs. House Government Operations Committee 
     Subcommittee on Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources. 
     Hearing. October 21, 1981. Concerned, in part, ``. . . 1981 
     EPA private meetings with chemical industry representatives 
     to discuss pending regulation. . . .''
       EPA Enforcement and Administration of Superfund. House 
     Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and 
     Investigations. Hearing. April 2, 1982. ``. . . [A]llegations 
     of White House interference with EPA enforcement programs.''


                                  1983

       Office of Management and Budget Control of OSHA Rulemaking. 
     House Government Operations Committee Subcommittee on 
     Manpower and Housing. Hearing. March 19, 1982. ``. . . 
     [C]harged improper intervention by Office of the Vice 
     President. . . .''
       Southland Corporation Investigation. Senate Committee on 
     Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on 
     Securities. Hearing. June 28, 1983. ``Hearing . . . to 
     investigate the conduct of John M. Fedders (Dir, Enforcement 
     Div, SEC) while employed as a legal counsel by the Southland 
     Corp. to assist in a 1977-78 internal business ethics 
     investigation into alleged company illegal payments.''


                                  1984

       Nonconsensual Recording of Certain Telephone Conversations 
     by USIA Director Charles Z. Wick. Senate Foreign Relations 
     Committee. Report. February, 1984. S. Prt. 98-147. ``Staff 
     report examining the purpose, extent, and legality of 
     unauthorized 1981-83 recording of telephone conversations by 
     U.S. Information Agency Director Charles Z. Wick.''
       Recording of Telephone Conversations by Charles Z. Wick, 
     Director, USIA. House Foreign Affairs Committee. Report. 
     February 3, 1984. ``Staff report examining the purpose, 
     extent, and legality of unauthorized 1981-83 recording of 
     telephone conversations by U.S. Information Agency Director 
     Charles Z. Wick.''
       Oversight on the National Labor Relations Board. House 
     Education and Labor Committee. Joint hearings before the 
     Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations and the House 
     Government Operations Committee Subcommittee on Manpower and 
     Housing. June 29, 1983. Involvement of witness, Hugh L. 
     Reilly (Solicitor, NLRB) ``. . .  in private labor relations 
     litigation after entering Government service; implications 
     for Solicitor's Office of NLRB enforcement proposals.''


                                  1985

       Oversight of the U.S. Information Agency. House Foreign 
     Affairs Committee Subcommittee on International Operations. 
     Hearings. May 10, 15, 1984. ``. . .  [A]lleged maintenance of 
     a so-called `blacklist' of persons not desired for overseas 
     speaking engagements, and Director Charles Z. Wick 
     unauthorized recording of telephone conversations.''
       Synthetic Fuels Corporation. House Energy and Commerce 
     Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. 
     Hearings. April 3, June 27, 1984. ``. . . [A]lleged 
     improprieties involving SFC officials.''
       Synthetic Fuels Corporation Oversight. House Government 
     Operations Committee Subcommittee on Environment, Energy, and 
     Natural Resources. Hearing. May 16, 1984. ``Examination of 
     SFC Board actions and perceptions regarding alleged conflict 
     of interests and eventual resignation of former SFC Board 
     Member and President Victor M. Thompson, Jr. . . .''


                                  1986

       Management of Livestock Grazing on Federal Lands by the 
     Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. House 
     Government Operations Committee Subcommittee on Environment, 
     Energy, and Natural Resources. Hearing. December 13, 1985. 
     Robert F. Burford, Director, Bureau of Land Management, 
     responded to ``. . . questions regarding conflict of 
     interests issues relating to Burford family ownership of 
     grazing permits.''
       Textile Imports and Investigation Into Activities of Former 
     Textile Official. House Government Operations Committee 
     Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs. 
     Hearing. July 31, 1986. Investigation of Walter C. Lenahan, 
     former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Textiles and Apparel, 
     Department of Commerce, ``. . . regarding compliance . . . 
     with conflict of interest, postemployment, and foreign agent 
     registration laws . . .''
       Investigation of the Role of the Department of Justice in 
     the Withholding of Environmental Protection Agency Documents 
     From Congress in 1982-83. House Judiciary Committee. 4 vols. 
     Report. December 11, 1985. ``Report examining Justice Dept. 
     role in 1082-83 confrontation between Congress and EPA 
     regarding disclosure of documents subpoenaed by the House 
     Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and 
     Investigations and the House Public Works and Transportation 
     Committee Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight in 
     connection with oversight EPA alleged mismanagement of 
     Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Superfund) program 
     for financial cleanup of uncontrolled hazardous waste 
     sites.'' Report discusses actions of EPA Administrator Anne 
     M. Burford (formerly Anne M. Gorsuch), EPA Assistant 
     Administrator Rita M. Lavelle, and Theodore B. Olson of the 
     Justice Department.
       HUD Inspector General Report. House Committee on Banking, 
     Finance and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing and 
     Community Development. Hearing. February 4, 1986. Hearing 
     concerned, in part, ``. . . alleged influence peddling by 
     former HUD officials . . .''


                                  1987

       Document Related to the Subcommittee Investigation of the 
     Activities of Michael K. Deaver and Associates. House Energy 
     and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and 
     Investigations. Committee Print. June 1987. ``Compliance of . 
     . . notes on interviews with various individuals relating to 
     May 16, 1986 subcommittee hearing and investigation into the 
     activities of Michael K. Deaver and Associates.''
       Additional Documents Related to the Subcommittee 
     Investigation of the Activities of Michael K. Deaver and 
     Associates. House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee 
     on Oversight and Investigations. July 1987. See above.
       Matters Relating to Joseph R. Wright, Jr., Deputy Director 
     of the Office of Management and Budget. Senate Governmental 
     Affairs Committee, Hearings, May 13, November 5, 6, 1985. 
     ``Hearing to examine the background and propriety of 
     telephone contact between Joseph R. Wright, Jr. (Dep Dir OMB) 
     and the Economic Regulatory Administration (ERA) relating to 
     proceedings involving charges of oil price control violations 
     by two Wright family-owned firms. . . .''
       Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the 
     Iran-Contra Affair. House Select Committee to Investigate 
     Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and Senate Select 
     Committee On Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the 
     Nicaraguan Opposition. H. Rpt. 100-433, S. Rpt. 100-216. 
     November 1987. A number of preliminary hearings and 
     investigations culminated in this report issued jointly by 
     the House and Senate Iran-Contra Select Committees.


                                  1988

       Investigation of the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland. House 
     Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on International 
     Operations. Hearing. March 10, 1987. Hearing ``. . . to 
     investigate allegations that U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland 
     Faith R. Whittlesey misused a gift fund and implemented 
     inappropriate personnel policies. . . .''
       Filing and Review of Attorney General Edwin Meese's 
     Financial Disclosures. House Post Office and Civil Service 
     Committee Subcommittee on Human Resources. Hearing. August 5, 
     1987. ``Hearing . . . to examine irregularities in the 
     preparation and filing of 1985 personal financial disclosure 
     reports by Attorney General Edwin Meese III. . . .''
       Office of Government Ethics' Review of the Attorney 
     General's Financial Disclosure. Senate Governmental Affairs 
     Committee Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management. 
     Hearing. July 9, 1987. ``Hearing . . . to consider the 
     adequacy of Attorney General Edwin Meese III compliance . . . 
     regarding financial disclosure reports of executive 
     personnel.''


                                  1989

       Trading on Position and Conflict of Interest by Former HUD 
     Official. House Government Operations Committee Subcommittee 
     on Employment and Housing. Hearing. April 26, 1989. 
     Examination of possible violations of conflict of interest 
     provisions of Ethics in Government Act by former HUD 
     Assistant Secretary June Koch, specifically relating to ``. . 
     . her establishment of a consulting firm to represent U.S. 
     business in the Soviet Union while acting as a consultant to 
     HUD on U.S.-Soviet housing and construction trade.''
       Trading on Position and Conflict of Interest by Former HUD 
     Assistant Secretary June Koch. House Government Operations 
     Committee Subcommittee on Employment and Housing. ``. . . 
     [R]eport, based on April 26, 1989 hearing and GAO 
     investigation.'' November 17, 1989. See above.


                                  1990

       Department of Justice Oversight Hearing. Senate Judiciary 
     Committee. Hearing. July 26, 1988. ``Hearing to review the 
     Mar. 29, 1988 resignations of two senior Department of 
     Justice officials during the independent counsel 
     investigation of Attorney General Edwin Meese III.'' 
     Testimony and exhibits concerned ``. . . [d]etails of Meese 
     relationship with Attorney E. Robert Wallach, including 
     possible role of Meese in securing Government contracts for 
     Wedtech Corp. . . .''
       Silverado Banking, Savings and Loan Association, Part 1. 
     House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee. Hearing. 
     May 23, 1990. ``Perspectives on Silverado failure; 
     clarification of Neil Bush business relations with real 
     estate developers . . . focusing on possible conflict of 
     interest problems. . . .''


                                  1991

       No relevant items found.


                                  1992

       ``October Surprise'' Allegations and the Circumstances 
     Surrounding the Release of the American Hostages Held in 
     Iran. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Report. November 
     19, 1992. ``. . . [F]indings of investigation of `October 
     Surprise' allegations that Ronald Reagan campaign aides 
     negotiated an Oct. 1980 secret agreement with the Iranian 
     Government assuring Iran of future arms sales by the Reagan 
     administration if Iran would delay the release of U.S. 
     hostages held in Iran until after the Nov. 1980 Presidential 
     election in order to assist in Reagan defeat of incumbent 
     President Jimmy Carter.''
       Joint Report of the Task Force to Investigate Certain 
     Allegations Concerning the Holding of American Hostages by 
     Iran in 1980 (``October Surprise Task Force''). House Report. 
     January 3, 1993. Same subject as above.
       Clean Air Act Implementation (Part 2). House Energy and 
     Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health and the 
     Environment. Hearings. November 14, December 10, 1991, 
     February 7, 1992. ``This volume focuses on allegations of 
     interference in the rulemaking process by the Council on 
     Competitiveness chaired by Vice President Dan Quayle.''
       Review Allegations of Misconduct or Wrongdoing on the Part 
     of Certain Individuals Associated With the Christopher 
     Columbus Quincentenary Commission. House Post Office and 
     Civil Service Committee Subcommittee on Census and 
     Population. Hearings. November 20, 21, 1991. Investigation 
     and review of a range of alleged ethical transgressions by 
     officials of the Quincentenary Commission.

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I know there is talk about, ``Well, we can't 
do this because of Iran-Contra,'' but there were a lot of speeches made 
on this floor in 1991, one by now Vice President, then Senator, Al 
Gore, who said, with reference to the 1980 October Surprise:

       The evidence which has thus far trickled into the public 
     domain is still fragmentary. Much of it is circumstantial, 
     but it is compelling. If the allegations are not true, the 
     country needs to know they are not true. If they are true, 
     the country needs to know that as well. * * *
       I believe the air needs to be cleared. * * * So, I am today 
     calling for a formal investigation of these charges and 
     allegations without prejudging what that investigation might 
     find, but believing deeply that it needs to take place in 
     order to establish the truth or falsehood of the allegations 
     that have been made.

  That was all about a bunch of rumors and some guy named Gary Sick who 
came down here and convinced Democrats that we ought to have a hearing 
on whether or not President Reagan was engaged in some kind of 
conspiracy back in 1980 with reference to hostages.
  We had hearings on that. Nobody said, ``Oh, we can't do that because 
of Iran Contra,'' or whatever, because of what Mr. Fiske or Mr. Walsh 
may have said.
  So, we can all be quoted. I notice that the Democrat National 
Committee said in 1973, I believe, that I wanted to stop the Watergate 
hearing. Well, I dug out that speech. We were not trying to stop the 
hearings. In fact, I think we were suggesting that they were probably a 
good thing to have. We were just trying to stop the live coverage so we 
could do other things. We are not asking for live coverage. We were not 
trying to keep out the press. We just thought live coverage day after 
day after day was not necessary.
  So we think a case will be made, and I hope that we could have some 
response soon.
  I reserve the remainder of my time.

                          ____________________