[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H77-H78]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SANCHEZ WON FAIR AND SQUARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today this House took an 
action that I think does not speak well of the premise that if one runs 
fairly and wins fairly, one should be allowed to serve fairly.
  Leader Gephardt offered to this House an opportunity to move 
democracy forward by ceasing and desisting from the pursuit of an 
investigation against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who won her 
election fair and square in California.
  So I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to challenge the injustice to a person 
who deserves justice. I rise today concerning the continuing 
investigation of the Committee on House Oversight into the partisan 
political crusade that they have carried on in an effort to harass 
Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez since she defeated Bob Dornan in the last 
congressional election. That committee, despite the lack of any shred 
of credible evidence, has dragged on its investigation for no other 
reason except partisan politics. We already know that the constituents 
of Loretta Sanchez' district appreciates her service, has received her 
well, agrees with her positions, and she is serving them well.
  Mr. Speaker, I would simply say in American lingo, the jig is up. An 
Orange County grand jury has concluded its investigation of Mr. 
Dornan's delusions of voter fraud and concluded there was no credible 
evidence to indict anyone and that there was no criminal conspiracy to 
commit voter fraud. This is the system that we put in place, and that 
system has determined that there is no criminal acts to be prosecuted.
  Mr. Dornan's accusations that a Latino civil rights organization 
conspired to commit voter fraud in order to defeat him did not stand up 
under the scrutiny of an Orange County grand jury investigation. What 
Mr. Dornan now needs to understand and the Committee on House Oversight 
needs to determine once and for all is that Loretta Sanchez beat Bob 
Dornan and Loretta Sanchez has been properly representing the people of 
the 46th District in California. Get a grip, understand reality, be 
fair, and allow this particular Congressperson to have the same kind of 
justice that any one of us would want to have and to be able to 
represent her constituents.
  This is a shameless vendetta carried on by Mr. Dornan against Latino 
voters, and it now must come to an end. The local prosecutors have 
concluded their investigation. It is now time for the Members of the 
Committee on House Oversight to pull up its stakes and stop spending 
our taxpayers' dollars chasing the smoke screen being spread by former 
Members.
  This is a former Member whose own colleagues have recognized him as 
an embarrassment to the principles of this House. His outrageous 
behavior on the floor of the House in doing various acts of swearing, 
insulting and threatening other Members was without precedent in this 
august body. When the House voted to revoke his privilege as a former 
Member from coming to the floor, that should serve, or should have 
served, as our notice about the credibility of these charges. That vote 
was a blight on a former Member that was unprecedented and should have 
moved the committee to hasten the conclusion of its proceedings. But 
the members of the committee have continued to follow the lead from 
this defeated, radical, right wing ideologue, flying in the face of 
that vote, and now the conclusions of a local grand jury. The committee 
keeps up its witch-hunt to invalidate votes in Congresswoman Sanchez's 
1996 election.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Dornan and his band of followers need to now admit 
to themselves the simple fact that the voters in California's 46th 
Congressional District understood in November of 1996 Loretta Sanchez 
beat Bob Dornan fair and square. Get a life, and let us get over it. 
But more importantly, let us move forward. Let us allow this House to 
proceed, accepting every single Member that has been duly elected by 
their constituents. We cannot do it with the votes we have on the 
Democratic side of the aisle; we know the Republicans have the upper 
hand, but we call upon our fair-minded colleagues. This is not a 
partisan issue, this is a fairness issue for the Democratic and 
Republican constituents of the 46th District. I believe that taxpayers' 
money should not be spent.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that these individuals who have control over this 
process be allowed, of course, to cease and desist from doing this 
particular proceeding.
  Mr. Speaker, as I conclude, let me tell my colleagues just a brief 
reason, or reasons, why Loretta Sanchez and others of us need to get on 
with our business. I want to emphasize some remarks I heard earlier 
today on the President's vision in his State of the Union, and just 
simply say, we need all of the hands we possibly can get to do what the 
American people have asked us to do. One, to save Social Security. I 
applaud the process that the President has offered. And then lastly, we 
need all the hands to make sure that health care is the right kind of 
health care for all Americans, and that it is not dictated by gurus 
sitting up in ivory towers saying that the bottom line is about money. 
We need all of our voters, Mr. Speaker, all of our Members, and I hope 
we can get on with the business of the House and the American people.

[[Page H78]]



                          ____________________