[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 117 (Friday, August 2, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9548-S9549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

                                 ______
                                 

                   THE PRESIDENT'S ``TRAVELGATE'' 180

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, yesterday's display by the President of 
the United States, snapping at reporters' questions about the Billy 
Dale bill, says a lot to me.
  First, it tells me the President has once again gone back on his 
word. This is not a surprise. It has happened so often with this 
President. And to be fair to him, he is certainly not the first 
politician that has gone back on his word, from either party.
  Yet, this President has championed the little guy. He came to town 
declaring war against all the wrongs resulting from the Washington 
political culture. Then, his own White House committed such a wrong.
  Initially, the President did the right thing. He said his staff had 
made a mistake. They had handled the matter wrong. Their display of 
cronyism and favoritism was at the expense of the careers and 
reputations of seven dedicated public servants and their families.
  All the while, the President's staff was waging war against the 
character of these seven. It's also known as character assassination. 
After that, the White House launched the IRS and the FBI to harass 
them, as if to justify the staff's wrongdoing.
  Then, they sent the Justice Department out to prosecute them. They 
had the full force of the Federal Government out after these seven 
public servants and their families.
  The case went to trial. And it took no time at all for a jury to 
acquit Billy Dale. That is how trumped up the charges were. A jury had 
no problem seeing that.
  Clearly, the White House drove Mr. Dale and the others right out of 
town with no justification. It was pure, naked politics, cronyism and 
favoritism. And when a White House uses the powers and resources of the 
Nation's No. 1 law enforcement agency, the Nation's tax collecting 
agency--which also happens to be the No. 1 harassment agency--and the 
Nation's No. 1 prosecution department, against innocent workers and 
their families, try telling the public that's not grotesquely wrong.
  And that is why Congress moved to reimburse Mr. Dale and the others 
for their legal expenses.
  Even the President, after the acquittal, said he regretted what Mr. 
Dale had to go through. But the President has now decided that the 
right move is to reverse himself and defend what his staff did to these 
seven families. He defends zealous White House staffers using the full 
powers and resources of the Federal Government to harass innocent 
people. He lines up on the side of politics, cronyism and favoritism. 
He fails to right a wrong that was perpetrated by the Washington 
culture of politics.
  The President did another reversal as well. After the acquittal, the 
President's personal attorney, Robert Bennett, issued an inappropriate 
and sour-grapes response. Mr. Bennett improperly discussed in public a 
confidential matter involving a plea agreement he alleged Billy Dale's 
attorney offered. Billy Dale denies the allegation.
  Upon Mr. Bennett discussing confidential information, the White House 
rightly said Mr. Bennett had stepped over the line. His comments were 
objectionable and improper. The reason is, plea negotiations are 
confidential. Rules exist to protect that confidentiality. Mr. Bennett 
may have violated the intent of those rules. And so the White House 
admonished him.
  It turns out, Mr. President, that the plea agreement issue came up 
again yesterday. In public. Notwithstanding the rules of 
confidentiality.
  But this time, the White House didn't issue a statement of 
admonishment.

[[Page S9549]]

That's because it was discussed by none other than the President 
himself. The President of the United States is discussing confidential 
information in the public arena. And in the process, he's doing exactly 
the same thing that his office had admonished the President's attorney 
for doing earlier this year.
  So here is what we have learned from the President's skirmish 
yesterday with reporters. First, he has now done a U-turn and allowed 
himself to get caught up in the mean-spirited attitude of his zealous 
political staff. Second, he has allowed himself to stoop to the level 
of the leakers and character assassins by discussing confidential 
information. Is this behavior befitting of what is expected of the 
President of the United States?
  At the same time, the President has not kept his eye on the central 
issue--the clear need to right the wrong perpetrated by zealous White 
House agents.
  Mr. President, this Travelgate issue is marked by a curious but 
telling phenomenon. At the beginning, the President was saying one 
thing, but the government he runs was doing the opposite. Obviously, we 
don't want or expect this in a Presidency. You want the President to 
say one thing, and have those in his control do that one thing, too. 
You want uniformity. You want the ``saying'' and the ``doing'' to be 
one and the same.
  But there is another variable in the equation. In the Travelgate 
matter, the President's words reflected the right thing, and his 
staff's deeds reflected the wrong thing. So the President, in seeking 
uniformity, made the wrong choice. Instead of making his administration 
conform to his admirable utterances, he went native with the wrong 
side. That is why he is now attacking Billy Dale like his attorney did; 
and that is why he has suddenly decided he will not sign the bill.
  Mr. President, this episode shows that the President has failed to 
uphold the principle of justice, fairness, and right vs. wrong in this 
matter. The test of any leader is to view his actions on matters that 
happen in his own back yard, or which affect him personally. [This is 
one such matter.] And to me, the President has failed that test of 
leadership.
  By not doing the right thing--and in fact, by now joining the wrong 
side in the campaign to assassinate one's character--he has undercut 
his own moral authority as a leader. He has abdicated his 
responsibility to see that justice was done for seven of his own former 
employees and their families. He has abandoned his commitment to stand 
up for the little guy. In a sense--it is okay to stand up for all these 
high and mighty principles--jut not in my back yard.
  And that is why, Mr. President, the President's about face in the 
Billy Dale matter is disappointing to me. And it tells me much about 
his leadership capacity.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________