[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 DID NOT LIE TO CONGRESS

  (Mrs. FOWLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I have to take umbrage with the comments 
from my good friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Connecticut 
[Ms. DeLauro]. She is totally inaccurate. The Speaker did not lie to 
the American Congress.
  The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct found that the Speaker 
broke no rules, broke no regulations. The only thing was that due 
diligence was not exercised in committee correspondence. That is all. 
This is a fact. Read through the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct finding.
  This is a reimbursement for the expenses incurred by that committee, 
and I commend our Speaker. It is a courageous step he has taken today 
to accept full personal responsibility, reimbursing the expenses of the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct out of his own personal 
funds. I think this is a great step for him to take. He has said as 
Speaker that he has the responsibility to do the right thing and to 
serve the American people responsibly.
  Senator Bob Dole, who was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by 
President Clinton, has stepped forward to help a friend. And Bob Dole 
is not a registered lobbyist, contrary to what the other side has been 
saying today. He is helping a friend.
  So we all need to get together now and move forward and do the work 
the American people sent us here to this Congress to do.

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