[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         INDEPENDENT COUNSEL TO INVESTIGATE INTERIOR SECRETARY

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the announcement was made that an 
independent counsel will be appointed to investigate Interior 
Secretary, Bruce Babbitt. To this I say: It is about time.
  Mr. Speaker, let us review what has happened here. When asked to 
explain why he denied a particular Indian gaming license, Secretary 
Babbitt responded that the administration instructed him to do so. 
Next, he denied ever having said that. Then he denied ever having made 
that denial. Finally, he has admitted that his original lie is the 
truth and that we just all have a big misunderstanding.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is a misunderstanding, but somewhere 
between all the lies, all the denials, and all the misunderstandings, a 
$300,000 campaign donation was made to the Democratic Party in exchange 
for governmental action against the noncontributing Indian tribe.
  Hopefully, the independent counsel will be able to sift through the 
lies and find the truth. Clearly, the American people deserve no less.

                          ____________________