[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 190 (Thursday, November 30, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H13811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CALL FOR ETHICS COMMITTEE REPORT ON SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

  (Mr. WISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the House quite properly voted 
unanimously for lobby reform. Last week it voted for Speaker Gingrich's 
amendment, which I supported, to ban trips and dinners and even T-
shirts. Why? To restore public credibility in this Congress.
  But now the front pages of today's newspapers say that the Federal 
Elections Commission is filing a civil suit against GOPAC, the 
political action committee set up and run by Speaker Gingrich. One 
concern: A $10,000 check and a letter objecting to a regulatory 
problem.
  Let me get this straight. No trips, no T-shirts, no ball caps, and 
yet the same person who voted against requiring the Ethics Committee to 
give a status report after many months of investigation of other 
charges against the Speaker will say that they stand up for reform. If 
ball caps are bad, how about $10,000 checks in the mail? Or can you 
accept a T-shirt if it is wrapped around a check to GOPAC?
  If you voted yesterday saying you were cleaning up Government, you 
must vote today to have the Ethics Committee give a status report on 
what cleaning up it is doing.

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