[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H5489-H5490]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CALL FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL IN SPEAKER'S ETHICS CASE

  (Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is common knowledge today 
that the Republican members of the Ethics Committee defeated a motion 
to appoint a special counsel to look into the complaints against the 
Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. I am disheartened by this action, 
and I know many of my colleagues as well as public interest groups 
share my feelings.
  Mr. Speaker, I call on you now to do what is right. Release the 
Republican members from their obligation to vote in lockstep. These are 
men and women of conscience for whom the vote consequence is beyond any 
inquiry into your actions.
  Rise up and meet the appropriate precedent of the past. Permit the 
committee and this House to conduct a fair and formal investigation 
through the vehicle of a special counsel. Anything less falls short of 
your moral obligation and our collective responsibility to the public. 
As quoted by Al Hunt in today's Wall Street Journal, there is no way 
that the House of Representatives is going to achieve any credibility 
unless they go to an outside counsel. [[Page H5490]] 
  Mr. Speaker, if you have no fear of the truth, do the right thing.
  

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