[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 8 (Friday, January 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                DETAILS SOUGHT ON THE MURDOCH BOOK DEAL

  (Mr. MILLER of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute, and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I say to the Members of the 
House it is time now for some candor about the meeting you had with 
Rupert Murdoch and its relationship to your book deal. The Congress of 
which you said you were the Speaker of the entire Congress, not just of 
the Republicans, deserves some answers about what took place at that 
meeting and what you knew about the progression of your negotiations 
with Rupert Murdoch's company for your book contract.
  I think it also raises a question about whether or not public 
officials ought to be allowed to engage in contracts for private gain 
while they are doing the public's business. To suggest that this 
meeting was only a courtesy visit or one of 30 visits that took place 
during that day is to mislead the public. The oldest game in this town 
is to have a lobbyist, a lawyer, or a special interest do you a favor 
and then a couple of days later ask one of their representatives that 
they might arrange a courtesy visit to come by. What they are doing in 
that visit is not courtesy; what they are doing is cementing the 
relation between the favor that was previously done and suggestions of 
actions or business that they have before the Congress that they want 
you to be aware of.
  We ought to know for the record what the facts were.

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