[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 115 (Thursday, September 4, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8821-S8822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      LOUISIANA CONTESTED ELECTION

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, periodically, I report to the Senate on 
the work of the Rules Committee investigation into alleged fraud and 
irregularities that may have affected the outcome of the 1996 Louisiana 
Senate

[[Page S8822]]

election. Our committee is conducting this investigation under the 
authority given the Senate pursuant to article 1, section 5 of the 
Constitution of the United States.
  Briefly recapping, I reported on May 8 of the committee's efforts to 
secure a bipartisan investigation. On May 23, I reported our efforts to 
obtain the detail of FBI agents to the committee and the agreement to 
issue over 130 subpoenas, although for election records only. Then, on 
June 26, I reported that the Rules Committee Democrats had, 
unexpectedly, withdrawn from the investigation--after only 2 weeks of 
committee action in the field. FBI support, likewise, was terminated by 
the Attorney General.
  I also reported that the results of the investigation had revealed a 
significant failure, by election officials, in numerous Louisiana 
statutory provisions designed to safeguard the election from voter 
fraud. Given these numerous breaches of law, although many appeared to 
be unintentional, I believed the Senate had an obligation to examine a 
broad number of areas where the potential for fraudulent acts and 
voting could have occurred.
  On July 31, the committee authorized me to continue the preliminary 
investigation and granted me, by resolution, the authority to issue 
subpoenas. To date, I have issued 38 subpoenas, in addition to the 134 
Senator Ford and I jointly agreed to issue, which have resulted in 
thousands of pages of documents as well as the appearance of numerous 
witnesses at 4 days of hearings held in New Orleans. We have received 
testimony from officials in the LIFE [Louisiana Independent Federation 
of Electors, Inc.] organization, as well as the owners of Carl Mullican 
Communications, Inc. [CMC], organizations prominently mentioned in the 
Jenkins petition and supporting documents.
  We have received testimony from representatives of gambling-related 
companies, witnesses who have voted more than once or had knowledge of 
those who had, van drivers on election day, and election officials, 
including one who worked on election day as both an election official 
and as a canvasser for a gambling company.
  Our investigators have also interviewed hundreds of people, regarding 
allegations of: mismatched signatures, precincts closing beyond the 
prescribed closing hour, multiple voting, noncompliance with State 
voting laws, and involvement of gambling industry in the election.
  On August 29, GAO detailed three persons to the committee to assist 
in the examination of election documents received as a result of 
subpoenas. We are now negotiating for an additional detail of qualified 
accountants to help examine the subpoenaed gambling industry documents.
  We also have requested the Department of Justice to reconsider its 
withdrawal and to return this case with added support. To date, we have 
been met with their continued resistance.
  As I concluded the second series of Louisiana hearings, on August 27, 
I stated that further hearings were needed. In consultation with the 
committee, I will soon set our next hearing.
  The pullout of the Democrats. and resultant loss of FBI support have 
complicated our task, but we are continuing to make progress in this 
investigation. My goal remains to ensure that the committee's work is 
performed in keeping with the precedents of the Senate in past election 
cases and to give the full committee my honest judgment of the 
established facts. The committee will then report to the full Senate 
its honest judgment of these facts respecting the Senate's duty under 
the Constitution of the United States.
  Suffice it to say, the results of this investigation to date are as 
yet incomplete. We do not have that body of facts to convincingly state 
that fraud or irregularities did, or did not, affect the results of the 
1996 election for the U.S. Senator from Louisiana.
  As developments occur, of such significance as to inform Senators, I 
again will give a timely report.

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