[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 34 (Thursday, February 23, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                          ONE LAW FOR EVERYONE

  (Mr. DOGGETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, in 50 days this Congress has passed only 
one bill that has been signed into law by the President. That measure 
quite rightfully demands that the Members of this Congress observe the 
same laws that apply to everyone else. The American people rightfully 
expect that Members will shoulder the same responsibilities as ordinary 
citizens and meet the same standards of behavior as ordinary citizens.
  But what a difference a few weeks can make. I am deeply concerned to 
learn that a Member of this House who stands accused of serious ethical 
transgressions, indeed a cloud of alleged improprieties that threaten 
public confidence in this House, that Member has actually threatened to 
shield himself by introducing legislation to require his accuser to pay 
both his legal fees and the expenses of the Ethics Committee that is 
investigating him.
  Mr. Speaker, does obtaining special legislation to immunize one's 
self sound like what an ordinary citizen does? No, it does not. But 
that is indeed what the Speaker of the House has threatened to do.
  I suggest that not intimidation, but more speech is the way to deal 
with this problem.

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