[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 98 (Monday, July 25, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          DISCHARGE PETITION 12--INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY

  (Mr. TRAFICANT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, there is a new twist in the case of O.J. 
Simpson. The defense team has gone on the offense. They are offering a 
$500,000 reward for evidence that can lead to the conviction of what 
they say is the killer or killers. I am not getting into the merits of 
this case, but the reason they have gone on the offensive is very 
simple. Most Americans think O.J. is guilty. That since he ran away 
with a gun pointed at his head, many people suspect that he perpetrated 
these crimes. What the defense team is trying to do is win back 
something very important before it goes to trial, the presumption of 
innocence, that you are innocent until proven guilty.
  Ladies and gentlemen, I make this statement because Mom and Dad in a 
tax court, civil proceeding, accused of tax fraud, take their house, 
take everything they have, take their business, they are considered 
guilty and have to prove themselves innocent.
  My discharge petition 12 supposedly has backed some Members off 
because it has personal liability and it would nail IRS agents who rip 
off Mom and Dad. I am letting Congress know that I would be willing to 
abandon all of that and just insist upon innocent until proven guilty.
  If it is good enough for the Son of Sam, if it is good enough for the 
Boston Strangler, by God, it is good enough for Mom and Dad in the tax 
court.
  Innocent until proven guilty. The presumption of innocence is good 
enough for our taxpayers as well.

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