[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H11235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   LET THE SUN SHINE IN ON REPORT ON SPEAKER GINGRICH HELD IN ETHICS 
                               COMMITTEE

  (Mr. POMEROY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, the only thing clear at this point in the 
Ethics Committee's handling of the charges against Speaker Gingrich are 
that serious questions exist, and the Ethics Committee does not have 
the ability to resolve questions involving Speaker Gingrich.
  A couple of commonsense principles commonly expressed where I come 
from maybe will provide some guidance in terms of how to proceed. The 
best is that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Here the Ethics 
Committee has in its possession a report prepared by an outside special 
counsel, funded by taxpayer expense. There is no quicker, simple----


                             point of order

  Mr. HOKE. Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Goodlatte). The gentleman from North 
Dakota [Mr. Pomeroy] will suspend.
  The gentleman will state his point of order.
  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, I make the point of order that discussion of 
the House Ethics Committee's proceedings on the floor of the House is 
not in order in the House. Is that correct?

                              {time}  1030

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Goodlatte). The Chair sustains the 
gentleman's point of order. The gentleman from North Dakota may proceed 
in order.
  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, I make a further point of order that the House 
rules provide that buttons may not be worn at the time that speeches 
are made on the floor of the House.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair sustains the point of order. The 
gentleman should remove the button.
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, I will remove the button, but I have a 
point of parliamentary inquiry regarding the first ruling made by the 
Chair.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his inquiry.
  Mr. POMEROY. Is it the Chair's position that I may make no statement 
regarding the outside special counsel's report, commissioned and paid 
for by taxpayer funds regarding the charges against Speaker Gingrich 
which is presently held at the Ethics Committee?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would point out to the gentleman 
that prior rulings of the Chair have indicated and ruled that no 
references may be made to the pending matters before the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct Committee unless a question of privilege 
is actually pending in the House.

  Mr. POMEROY. I have a further question along the lines of the 
gentleman's ruling.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his inquiry.
  Mr. POMEROY. The report presently prepared and before the committee 
is itself a component of the committee's deliberations but I was not 
talking about the committee's deliberations. I was talking about 
release of the report. That to me would seem to fall outside the 
Speaker's ruling.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The scope of the gentleman's comments is 
within the Speaker's ruling and such comments have previously been 
ruled out of order. The gentleman will proceed in order.
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, I think it is vital that we establish as a 
Congress our commitment to publish that report and to release those 
documents so the country can judge whether or not the man second in 
line to be President, the Speaker of the House, should be in that 
position.
  Mr. Speaker, I was not called on that last sentence because those 
were not my words, those were the words of Newt Gingrich when he called 
for the release of the report against Speaker Wright. What is good for 
the goose is good for the gander. Release the report.

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