[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5456-S5457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE VOID IN MORAL LEADERSHIP--PART IX

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last Sunday marked the third anniversary 
of the firings of the Travelgate Seven from the White House travel 
office. That is 3 years of the Federal Government harassing these 
innocent public servants, and their families, and the harassment 
continues as I speak. This is a story of an abuse of power by the new 
occupants of the White House, back on May 19, 1993.
  The Clinton White House used the full powers of the Federal 
Government to fire these seven loyal workers, destroy their 
reputations, deplete their bank accounts, steal their dignity, and 
cause great suffering for their families.
  I wonder how many Americans have been the target of an abusive 
Washington bureaucracy--like the IRS.
  Or how about when four Federal agencies fight over the right to tell 
a farmer how to use land that his family has been farming for three 
generations.
  And how many small businesses have been harassed by OSHA or EPA?
  Untold numbers of citizens across this land have been harassed and 
abused by the Federal Government. Hard-working families try to play by 
the rules. Next thing they know, they are unfair targets of zealous 
Washington bureaucrats who are out of control.
  Mr. President, no hard-working, honest citizen should have to go 
through such an ordeal. It is unjust and unfair. Government is supposed 
to promote justice and fairness, but Washington turns these principles 
upside down.
  There are many examples of bureaucracies harassing citizens; but 
there are few examples of Washington putting the full force of its 
powers against decent, hard-working families. The case of the 
Travelgate Seven is one such example. For them, the harassment was many 
times greater than what most citizens have endured. These seven 
provided a service for the President and the press corps in the 
interest of open government. Their bosses were seven previous 
Presidents and the American taxpayers. But cronies of President 
Clinton, infatuated with newly derived power, coveted the business for 
themselves.

  The only barriers to themselves and a lucrative business were these 
seven loyal workers, so the cronies went on the attack. First, they 
spread false allegations against the seven workers, accusing them of 
mismanagement and embezzlement. This led to their firings by the 
President.

[[Page S5457]]

  When there was a public backlash, the White House damage-control 
operation went into full gear. The White House publicly smeared the 
reputations of the workers with all the false charges. The workers and 
their families were publicly humiliated. Next, to justify the false 
charges, the White House then unleashed the FBI and the IRS on them. 
Finally, the Justice Department prosecuted them on trumped up charges.
  Nearly 3 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later, a jury 
acquitted the fall guy and scapegoat of the White House offensive, 
Billy Dale. They acquitted him in less than 2 hours.
  There can be no doubt that this case was a miscarriage of justice, no 
doubt that these seven workers were unjustly and unfairly persecuted. 
And no doubt that the President made a mistake in firing them. Yet, the 
President has failed to own up. He has failed to take responsibility 
for their firings and their continued harassment.
  There is lots of finger-pointing and blaming going on at the White 
House, but no one will stand up and take responsibility for what 
happened. That is usually the sign of failed moral leadership. The 
leader in the White House--the President--will not take responsibility 
for the unwarranted firings at the behest of cronies and then, he will 
not seek accountability for whoever unleashed the powers of the Federal 
Government to harass the Travelgate Seven.
  Mr. President, is it unfair to ask the President to take 
responsibility for his actions? Is it unfair to hold accountable those 
zealots on his staff that unjustly unleashed the FBI, the IRS, and the 
Justice Department on these innocent employees? Is it unfair that the 
President should admit that he made a serious mistake?
  Instead of considering these questions, the President has sent his 
lieutenants out to again harass these former workers. The House of 
Representatives earlier this year voted overwhelmingly to provide legal 
expenses for the Travelgate Seven. It had bipartisan support. But when 
the bill came to the Senate, it was ambushed by Clinton loyalists. They 
were afraid of the embarrassment it would cause the President to have 
to sign such a bill that would prove he had made a serious mistake. 
Rather than face the music, the President sent out his lieutenants to 
block the bill in the Senate. They succeeded. The minority leader 
succeeded in using the Senate procedures to block consideration of the 
bill that would make these seven families economically whole, and put 
the ordeal behind them--not psychologically whole, not their 
reputations whole, not their dignity whole, not their pain and 
suffering whole, just their expenses--the least of what should be 
restored.

  The President's lieutenants--the Democrats in this body--shot the 
bill down. It was pure and simple legislative harassment. That was on 
May 7. And so, the harassment continues. It is simply not right. It is 
not fair. And they need to be held accountable.
  Mr. President, is it fair for these Democrats to not do the right 
thing just to save the President from embarrassment? I will let the 
American people answer that question. Perhaps they will call the office 
of their Senator.
  Tell the Democrats to stop playing politics with the Billy Dale bill. 
After all, they voted 52 to 44 on May 7 to block the Billy Dale bill.
  Mr. President, the bottom line of this story, and of the record of 
this President, is the absence of moral leadership. A President--a 
leader--who fails to take responsibility for his actions; who allows 
cronies to run roughshod over innocent employees; who allows his staff 
to violate the civil rights of these workers; who lets his staff 
unleash the powers of the Federal Government against innocent families; 
who fails to seek accountability for those who did the unleashing; and 
who covers it all up by claiming executive privilege--in light of all 
this, can we truly call this President a leader?
  He has failed to set the proper example for the country. He has 
failed to set an example for the people he serves--the American people. 
He has failed to set an example for his own staff. And, he has failed 
to set an example for the seven fired workers and their families. 
Rather than face the music, the President has his lieutenants do his 
dirty work in the darkness of night, and in the Democratic cloak room, 
all to avoid the embarrassment of his mistakes.
  In the coming weeks, the Billy Dale bill will be brought to the floor 
again--this bill to restore hope and dignity for these families. I call 
upon the American people to not allow this injustice to stand. Make the 
Senate Democrats do the right thing. Make them support the Billy Dale 
bill. This morning's Washington Post editorializes on this matter. The 
editorial is entitled, ``Another Travel Office Travesty.'' It says, get 
politics out of the way and pass this bill. I agree, Mr. President. I 
urge my Democratic colleagues to get out of the way. I ask unanimous 
consent that the Post editorial be printed in the Record and I yield 
the floor.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Washington Post, May 21, 1996]

                     Another Travel Office Travesty

       Why are some people in Congress maneuvering to keep that 
     institution from making right some of the wrongs done to 
     fired White House travel office employees? Nothing the 
     Congress can enact will make up for the damage done to the 
     reputations of these workers. But fooling with them the way 
     they are is simply wrong.
       The travel office fiasco should have been resolved days 
     ago. Billy Dale and his six travel office colleagues were 
     summarily dismissed from their jobs in 1993 for the shakiest 
     of reasons. They were summarily told to vacate their offices 
     by the incoming Clinton White House and publicly smeared with 
     charges that they had engaged in wrongdoing. White House 
     staff that had an interest in taking over the travel office 
     even helped to concoct the allegations. The reputations of 
     the fired travel office employees were unfairly damaged, and 
     Mr. Dale in particular was made to undergo a painful and 
     costly ordeal before he was exonerated by a jury.
       All of the fired employees incurred legal expenses in 
     connection with criminal probes launched against them 
     following their discharge. Mr. Dale bore $500,000, the lion's 
     share, but no ex-travel office employee escaped without a 
     crushing debt burden. The others incurred about $200,000 
     themselves. So to undo at least some of the damage, 
     legislation was introduced in Congress to reimburse them for 
     some of the costs of defending themselves. The House passed 
     the bill by an overwhelming 350 to 43 vote. President Clinton 
     says he will sign it. Sen. Orrin Hatch has introduced the 
     bill in the Senate.
       But Senate Democrats have been blocking action on the Hatch 
     measure because they want a vote on the minimum wage increase 
     and can't get one. To make matters worse, the Dale bill was 
     amended by Bob Dole to include the Republican gas-tax 
     repealer. Hence, Bill Dale et al. are now part of the 
     Senate's five-car pile-up, the rest of which includes the 
     minimum wage boost, gas tax cut, taxpayer bill of rights, and 
     the T.E.A.M. measure.
       Mr. Dale and the former travel office employees, having 
     taken shots from the White House and lost much in the 
     process, are now caught in another political crossfire. The 
     people holding up action on the reimbursement of the misused 
     travel office employees should back off. The time has come to 
     rectify a wrong.

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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