[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         ETHICS COMMITTEE ACTION LOOKS LIKE A POLITICAL COVERUP

  (Mr. POMEROY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, when ethics charges are filed against a 
Member, the public has the right to have the absolute assurance that 
the charges are investigated and appropriate action taken. Appropriate 
action, as I see it, could even include dismissal of the charges and 
sanctions against those who filed the charges if they were found to be 
frivolous and malicious.
  I, therefore, cannot understand why the Ethics Committee, on a party 
line vote, rejected the call for an outside counsel to investigate the 
charges currently pending against the Speaker of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia, Newt Gingrich. If the charges are frivolous, no 
action could dispel the stigma which presently exists more clearly. If 
the charges are serious, then each of us, regardless of party, ought to 
support the appropriate handling of them.
  In the meantime, the public is thinking, I believe, if there is 
nothing to hide, what is the problem with an outside counsel. Instead, 
the Ethics Committee action to date begins to look like a political 
coverup of serious charges. We will not restore confidence in 
Government if this troubling problem continues to exist.

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