[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 12, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H14262-H14263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 

[[Page H14263]]
  12, 1995, the gentlewoman from Colorado [Mrs. Schroeder] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pain that I come to 
this House floor as the senior woman in this House to discuss what I 
watched yesterday in the press conference coming from Salt Lake City by 
our colleague. No, I am not here to talk about shedding tears. I have 
been one to shed tears. In fact, if Members of Congress had corporate 
sponsors like race car drivers do, my corporate sponsor would probably 
be Kleenex. But I am here to remind this body that shedding tears does 
not shed us of our responsibilities that we take when we assume this 
very solemn task of stewardship for the people in our district when 
they send us here to represent them.
  I watched and was terribly troubled, because I think it is time we as 
Members of this body realize that when we get elected, we are the ones 
that get elected. Our spouses do not get elected. Our staffs do not get 
elected. If we choose to delegate some authority to our spouses or to 
our staffs, then we must stand and take the responsibility for that 
delegation. Because only our name is on that ballot, and that ballot is 
a very, very sacred act in the democracy. When you vote for a person, 
you are to get that person or that person's judgment, and that is all 
we have that holds representative government together.
  So as I watched yesterday and I heard the many explanations, I was 
even further troubled by the explanation that, even though everybody 
knows none of us are allowed to receive more than $1,000 to campaign 
with from either a spouse or a family member or a friend or anybody. No 
one is allowed to receive more than $1,000. You can only spend more 
than that if it happens to be your own money.
  And so hearing that, ``Oh, well, I did it but, you see, you cannot 
give an election back, so on with the show.''
  Well, you may not be able to give an election back, but I must say 
you can step down. You can step down. If any American went out and 
procured items with illegally-gotten money and that was discovered, 
they would have to give it back. They would have to give it back. You 
can never undo what was wrong, but you try to make recompense.
  I think we have these laws that we either honor or, if we are going 
to ignore them, find out about them later and say, ``So be it,'' it 
does not work. It does not work.
  Saying that you signed blank statements and you are very sorry that 
they filled them in, hey, let us see the average American be able to 
use that defense with the Internal Revenue Service: ``I just signed a 
blank 1040. Someone filled it in, and I did not really mean to do it.'' 
That does not work. None of us are allowed to delegate our citizen 
responsibility, our representative responsibility, unless we are 
willing to stand and take the consequences for it.
  So I think in this society where there has been so much talk about 
people trying to become victims and ``Because I am a victim, therefore 
I am not responsible,'' that does not work.
  This great democracy only works if every one of us stands up and 
takes responsibility for what we undertook and takes responsibility for 
being the captain of our own ship and our own lives.
  So it is with great pain that I say these things today, because 
obviously my colleague has been very hurt and been very hurt in love, 
which many people can be hurt. But that does not give people an excuse 
to walk away from their duties or to overlook all the different things 
that went on that should have been warning signals, and I do not think 
we should allow that to be used in this case, either.
  So I hope all of us take that seriously, think about our 
responsibility seriously and wonder how in the world this democracy can 
ever work if we allow people to be able to shed tears and be able to 
shed responsibility, or claim victimhood and therefore shed 
responsibility.
  Responsibility is not another layer of skin like a snake has, and you 
can just say, ``Oops, I am out of there, I am someone new.''
  No, we must be held accountable for our acts. That is the very, very 
basis of this Government. And yesterday for me was a very sad day.

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