[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 46 (Thursday, April 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      SPEAKER GINGRICH TO COMPENSATE TAXPAYERS FOR COST OF ETHICS 
                             INVESTIGATION

  (Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I am one of the freshmen 
here. I have been here on the job for 4 months, and I had hoped to come 
to Washington and deal with the matters that my constituents and the 
people of the country expect us to deal with, cutting taxes, providing 
tax relief, balancing the budget, returning authority back to the 
States, and doing things of a noble nature, noble causes.
  Instead, I have come here and heard the other side berate our Speaker 
day after day and try to discredit the institution of Congress for what 
I consider to be, instead, a rather noble cause and a courageous 
response.
  The Speaker taught a college course on American civilization and 
disclosed the terms of that course to the Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct, apparently not to the satisfaction of the committee. 
He reached an agreement, and in the process of that agreed to 
compensate the taxpayers for the cost of the hearings and the 
investigation.
  He stood up to the task and he agreed to participate and to 
compensate the taxpayers: A courageous act. I ask the American people 
to contrast that act of courage with the cowardice that we have heard 
from those who would oppose the Speaker.

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