[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 180 (Tuesday, November 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H12328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           SECRETARY O'LEARY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Georgia [Ms. McKinney] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, it appears that some of my colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle are salivating at the chance to use a rumor 
against Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary.
  Some of my Republican colleagues who are upset with Secretary O'Leary 
for not greasing their districts with sufficient Federal lard, are 
trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill as their revenge. 
Apparently the Wall Street Journal--not known to be a Democrat-friendly 
newspaper--wrote that the Secretary of Energy had hired an advanced 
news-clipping service to gauge what newspapers across the Nation and 
the world were saying about the Department which she is working to 
reform.
  However, some of my bitter Republican colleagues who did not get the 
bacon they wanted from the DOE, are charging that Secretary O'Leary was 
spying on reporters, newspapers, and was concerned about the 
Department's image. What a farce.
  This coming from Members of Congress who spend tens of thousands of 
dollars on their press secretaries who basically do the same thing: 
clip newspapers and respond when they get bad press. This coming from 
Members of Congress who use the House recording studio, send out 
newsletters, get official photos et cetera, et cetera. My Republican 
colleagues are charging Secretary O'Leary with spending $43,000 on what 
every major corporation in America does: monitor how the press is 
receiving them.
  Yet when one compares how much Members of Congress spend on their 
press secretaries, news letters and so on, we will find that they spend 
much more than $43,000 on image. Can you imagine the nerve of my 
colleagues who have the audacity to stand up here and accuse the 
Secretary of Energy of being concerned about the image of her 
Department, when they are doing the exact same thing?
  One of my Republican colleagues from South Carolina even had the 
nerve to stand on the floor last night to lambaste Secretary O'Leary, 
and say, quote, ``If I as a Member of Congress took taxpayer money 
entrusted to my care to go out and work on somebody to make me look 
better, I should lose my job.''
  Well, maybe my colleague from South Carolina should resign. What is 
your press secretary for if he or she is not there to spruce up your 
image? What is more unbelievable, is that that same colleague, just 
seconds before he delivered his rumor-based attack on Secretary 
O'Leary, said an I quote, ``This is a funny town where rumors can start 
without any basis.'' He made this statement in defense of one of our 
Republican colleagues who has had charges leveled against him, Yet, 
literally in the same speech, he then went on to accuse Ms. O'Leary of 
abusing the public trust based solely on a rumor. So it appears that 
when rumors are started about Republicans, Washington all of the sudden 
becomes, ``A funny town where rumors can start without any basis.'' 
However, if Republicans are the ones starting those rumors then it is 
OK.

  Mr. Speaker, this kind of duplicity just amazes me. In fact, the 
Washington Post reported today that the Republican National Committee 
uses the exact same news-clipping service which the Republicans are 
claiming is a spy agency.
  In fact, many corporations use such clippings services. And since 
Hazel O'Leary has been trying to run DOE more like a business, it only 
makes sense that she have at her disposal the same tools that the 
corporations have at their disposal.
  According to Mary McGrory in a Washington Post article on May 16, 
1995, she said about Hazel O'Leary, and I quote, ``No Cabinet officer 
has run a department more efficiently.'' In fact, for the DOE which has 
tens of thousands of employees, to spend $45,000 on so-called image is 
actually pretty good when one considers what Members of Congress spend 
on image.
  In closing I would advise my colleagues on the other side of the isle 
to be very careful before they start spreading rumors about a Cabinet 
member who didn't give them the pork projects they wanted in order to 
boost their images.

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