[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 59 (Thursday, March 30, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          WHY WEYRICH IS WRONG

  (Mr. LEWIS of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week Paul Weyrich, 
one of the founding fathers of the modern-day right wing, wrote in the 
Washington Times that the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson] 
and the other Republican members of the Ethics Committee should resist 
the temptation to appoint a special counsel to investigate the Speaker. 
Appointing an outside counsel, Weyrich argued, would bring a cloud over 
the Speaker and affect his ability to govern.
  Mr. Weyrich is wrong, just dead wrong. There are, indeed, very 
serious charges hanging over the head of the Speaker. But only an 
outside counsel, an independent objective individual, can clear the air 
and remove this matter from the realm of partisan politics. This is the 
route the Ethics Committee has taken in every high level case since 
1979.
  The gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson] and the other 
Republicans on the Ethics Committee should not be subjected to threats 
by Paul Weyrich or by anyone else.
  We need an outside counsel to investigate the Speaker and the 
committee should proceed without delay.


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