[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 153 (Thursday, September 28, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H9598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ETHICS INVESTIGATION REQUIRES CONSISTENCY

  (Mr. WISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, the credibility in this institution requires 
that both the public and the Members serving here know that there is 
consistency in the application of the processes by which Members are 
investigated for alleged wrongdoings. Specifically, that the Committee 
on Standards of Official Conduct follows the same process for each and 
every Member.
  Simple due process for anyone requires that they know what to expect, 
and know what the procedures are. That is why I have some concern when 
I read that the gentlewoman from Connecticut, the present chair of the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, was quoted as saying 
recently that, and I quote from the Hartford Courant, ``The letter of 
the law is not compelling to me. I will work with the rules. Our rules 
have a certain amount of flexibility. Our goal is to have a process 
that the committee members feel good about.''
  Mr. Speaker, justice and Committee on Standards of Official Conduct 
investigations are not best conducted in a hot tub, feel-good 
atmosphere. I am concerned when an aide of hers quotes Speaker Gingrich 
in 1987, when he said that investigation requires a high standard. I 
urge it to be followed today.

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