[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 26 (Thursday, February 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE SWEETHEART DEAL OF THE CENTURY

  (Mr. BONIOR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, today's Washington Times has an article that 
provides a fascinating window on how the special interests and policy 
are intertwined in this Republican Congress.
  Now the Speaker has mounted a consistent attack on the Corporation 
for Public Broadcasting, and at times he has even called for funding to 
be reduced to zero. Today we find out that the Speaker's close friend 
and ally, Vin Weber, who has, according to the Times, and I quote, 
frequently been in the Speaker's office the past 6 weeks, often working 
in his shirt sleeves, has signed a $250,000 contract with the 
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and guess what the contract was 
for? To plot out the future for the Corporation.
  In other words, in one room Mr. Weber was engaged in discussions with 
the Speaker on how to do away with the Corporation, and in the other 
room he is telling the Corporation that for a cool quarter of a million 
dollars he can help salvage what the Speaker is trying to do away with.
                              {time}  1040

  Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate that we are less than 1 week away from 
Valentine's Day because this is the sweetheart deal of the century.

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