[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 17 (Friday, January 27, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HELP US PASS LOBBYING REFORM

  (Ms. FURSE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. FURSE. Mr. Speaker, before I came to Congress, I was a community 
organizer, I was a farmer, and, you know, nobody gave me any gifts to 
encourage me to do my job.
  I do not see why it should be any different now I am in Congress. 
Well, on January 4 the Democrats put forward a bill to ban gifts from 
lobbyists, but, you know, we failed in that bill, and we failed because 
not one Republican would join us in banning gifts from lobbyists.
  Now, last October Speaker Gingrich said he would work to pass a bill 
that would ban gifts from special interests, so now, Mr. Speaker, we 
have a bill; we have a bill that would do just that, House Resolution 
40, introduced by my colleague, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bryant]. 
It will do that.
  Let us, all of us, pass that bill. But, you know, we are going to 
need Republicans to help us do that, so let us do the job we were sent 
to do. We are paid to do it. We do not need gifts from people who just 
want to influence us.


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