[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 165 (Tuesday, October 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H10637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 BULK SALES OF SPEAKER GINGRICH'S BOOK

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, they say that people who live in glass 
houses should not throw stones. Well, it might also be advised that 
people who throw stones at glass houses should not move into glass 
houses.
  In 1988, when then-Congressman Newt Gingrich led the call for an 
investigation into then-Speaker Jim Wright, Gingrich claimed that 
Wright had violated House rules by arranging for bulk sales of a book 
he had authored.
  At the time, Gingrich alleged that the bulk sales were being used by 
Wright to get around limits on lecture fees. Now, according to a story 
that in yesterday's New York Daily News, Speaker Gingrich is profiting 
from some bulk sales of his own.
  The Daily News story reveals that Speaker Gingrich is wracking up his 
own bulk sales of his book, ``To Renew America.'' According to records, 
bulk sales of the Gingrich manifesto have been made to both political 
organizations which he has personal ties to and to organizations which 
have business before Congress. In one case, a company purchased 10,000 
dollars' worth of Mr. Gingrich's book. That is a lot of books.
  What is wrong with that, you may ask? Plenty, according to experts on 
congressional ethics. In fact, Richard Phelan, the independent counsel 
who led the ethics investigation into the Wright book deal, said 
yesterday that Speaker Gingrich's bulk sales raise a lot of questions. 
When asked to compare the charges against former Speaker Wright with 
the latest allegations against current Speaker Gingrich, Phelan said: 
``There is a definite parallel.''
  Among the organizations that have purchased the Speaker's book in 
bulk, are the Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Virginia and 
the Georgia Public Policy Center. Both organizations are run by 
Gingrich political allies and both purchases were made just prior to 
Gingrich attending events sponsored by the groups.
  When former prosecutor Phelan was told of one case where the bulk 
sales were made, just prior to a speech by Gingrich, he said: ``It 
could be a quid pro quo for the speech and this is precisely what we 
got Wright on. No, no, no, Mr. Speaker.''
  No, no, no, Mr. Speaker, indeed. The latest twist in the Speaker's 
troublesome book deal with Rupert Murdoch only serves to underscore the 
need for an outside counsel to investigate the ethics charges against 
Mr. Gingrich. As the Speaker himself said in 1988, when urging an 
outside counsel to investigate Mr. Wright:

       The rules normally applied by the Ethics Committee to an 
     investigation of a typical Member are insufficient in an 
     investigation of the Speaker of the House, a position which 
     is third in the line of succession to the Presidency and the 
     second most powerful elected position in America. Clearly, 
     this investigation has to meet a higher standard of public 
     accountability and integrity.

  The standard of public accountability and integrity cannot be 
expected to be upheld when the investigation into the highest ranking 
member of the U.S. House of Representatives is being conducted by 
people who are politically indebted to him.
  It is hard to say ``no'' to the Speaker of the House. Republicans on 
the House Ethics Committee feel pressured to defend the Speaker's book 
deal, just as Republican organizations feel pressured to purchase the 
Speaker's book.
  Without an independent, outside counsel to investigate the 
allegations against Speaker Gingrich, we will never lift the ethical 
cloud that hangs over the House.

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