[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 26 (Thursday, February 29, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H1622]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             THE WITCH HUNT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. DeLay] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, the witch hunt is over and the accused has 
been found innocent. The charges by the Federal Elections Commission 
and trumpeted by the liberals regarding Speaker Newt Gingrich and GOPAC 
have been found to be baseless.
  In his ruling regarding this case, Judge Lewis Oberdorfer found that 
there ``is no proffer of admissible material evidence in the record 
that the material and services which GOPAC provided to support 
Congressman Gingrich's work as GOPAC General Chairman were ever used by 
GOPAC or by him to support his reelection campaign.''
  In other words, the FEC's case held no water.
  Mr. Speaker, while this attack on GOPAC and Republicans by the 
liberal Democrats is not surprising, the fact that the case was 
summarily dismissed exposes it for what it really is, an effort to 
change the subject.
  Ever since Republicans first won control of the House of 
Representatives for the first time in 40 years, liberals have tried 
every trick in the book to derail our agenda for real change.
  They have filibustered, fear-mongered, and filed lawsuits. They have 
convinced their outside activist allies, the trial lawyers, the labor 
unions, the Naderites, to put every ounce of energy, every bit of 
money, and every kind of demagoguery, into derailing our agenda.
  This ruling by Judge Oberdorfer finally exposes the truth, that this 
distortion campaign is false and it is malicious.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people are not interested in GOPAC. They 
are not interested in smear campaigns. They are tired of partisanship 
and bickering. They want the budget balanced. They want lower taxes. 
They want more opportunities for jobs. They want better schools for our 
children. And they want us to do the jobs we were sent here to do.
  It is time to quit while you are behind. Stop this Ethics Committee 
abuse and start debating the real issues of the day.

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