[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 194 (Thursday, December 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H14182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ETHICS COMMITTEE RESULTS

  (Mr. SHAYS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I just want to stand before this House and 
thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson], 
for her courage. She is one of the most ethical people I have ever met.
  I think colleagues on both sides of the aisle can agree. During this 
thorough, bipartisan investigation by the Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct, she was not allowed to defend the actions of the 
committee. The investigation committee had six different specific 
complaints. Five of them were dropped. Only one is being looked at, and 
that is to hire a special counsel to investigate the tax implications 
of two nonprofit organizations which helped the Speaker in his course, 
a course that was in 21 universities, a course for which he never 
received a penny.
  Was he guilty of encouraging people to call an 800 number to learn 
more about this course? Yes, if you call that guilt.
  Was he guilty he had an unpaid advisor help him during the transition 
to decide who he should hire in his office? Yes, if you call that 
guilt, I do not.
  He had a town meeting and he advertised his town meeting on the floor 
of the House.
  Bottom line: The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct dropped 
five of the six complaints and is having a special counsel look at the 
one remaining issue, the tax implications of the Speaker's college 
course.
  I salute my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who serve on the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. They worked hard and 
resolved a number of difficult issues on a bipartisan basis. I hope we 
can now get back to the business of balancing our Federal budget.

                          ____________________