[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 87 (Thursday, June 13, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   WHAT IF A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT WERE ACCUSED OF RAIDING FBI FILES?

  (Mrs. SEASTRAND asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. SEASTRAND. Mr. Speaker, the other day in the Washington Post, 
Mary McGrory brought up a point about the Filegate controversy that I 
thought was very relevant. What if this had been a Republican 
administration? Think about it, Mr. Speaker; every member of the 
liberal media would be at their wits end. CNN would have special 
Filegate music and would break in every 10 minutes with a special 
report. Dan Rather and Peter Jennings would be breathless in their zeal 
to find out the truth about what was going on in the White House.
  ``60 Minutes'' and ``20/20'' would do special interviews with the 
people whose FBI files were investigated. They would ask sensitive 
questions like, ``How does it feel to have your FBI file looked into by 
the White House?''
  But this is not what is happening, Mr. Speaker. Of course, there is 
media coverage of Filegate, I do not deny that. But there is a 
different standard applied to liberal Democrats by the media. If a 
Republican President were accused of raiding FBI files of Democrats, 
the liberal media would be in absolutely apoplexy.

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