[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MEDIA BIASED AGAINST KENNETH STARR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, today on Good Morning America, I saw the 
most biased, most slanted, least objective interview I have ever 
watched. The interview was conducted by a woman named Lisa McCree, and 
she was interviewing Monica Lewinsky's lawyer, William Ginsberg.
  Before I went to law school, I got my undergraduate degree in 
journalism. While this does not make me an expert, it does cause me to 
notice words or expressions that others perhaps may overlook. Seldom 
have I seen any commentator make his or her view so obvious to color an 
interview while trying to at least give an appearance of objectivity.
  I do not have the transcript, so I cannot quote word for word, but 
Ms. McCree's most obvious bias was in regard to Kenneth Starr, the 
Independent Counsel. Her every word, every nuance, every expression 
indicated that Judge Starr, in her opinion, had exceeded his authority, 
was unethical, and just a generally horrible person. Ms. McCree made it 
very clear that she seems to think that Judge Starr is almost the devil 
incarnate.
  Then when it came to Monica Lewinsky, she kept referring to her by 
her first name, Monica this and Monica that, and once referred to her 
as this girl, wondering if Mr. Starr was going to prosecute this girl.
  Well, first, Ms. Lewinsky is 24 years old. I used to be a criminal 
court judge trying the felony criminal cases all across this Nation. 
Many, perhaps even most, defendants in adult criminal courts are 24 
years of age or younger.
  Secondly, the polls tells us that a large majority of the people 
believe that the President had an affair with Ms. Lewinsky starting 
when she was 21. Thus, if Mr. Starr is trying to take advantage of Ms. 
Lewinsky, millions of Americans apparently believe the President took 
advantage of her in a much worse way when she was even younger than 
that.
  I switched stations after this interview by Ms. McCree, and I saw Tim 
Russert.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are advised to avoid personal 
references to the President.
  Mr. DUNCAN. I saw Tim Russert of Meet the Press, and he was talking 
about the same subject. He asked, why all the smoke? Why all the cover-
up? He asked what is the truth, Mr. President?
  I was a criminal court judge for seven and a half years prior to 
coming to Congress. I tried the felony criminal cases. Offenses like 
subornation of perjury and obstruction of justice are very serious 
offenses. If anyone lied under oath in a major case, even at the 
deposition stage, that is very serious.
  The American people have a right to know the truth. Yet, today, we 
learn that the White House is now hiding behind executive privilege. 
They do not want the Secret Service to testify. They do not want top 
officials at the White House to testify. Even the President's own press 
secretary says this is all going to be very hard to explain and that 
the people may have a hard time accepting some of what may come out. 
Judge Starr is doing exactly what he is required by law to do.

                              {time}  1615

  He has already gotten more convictions than any independent counsel 
in history, including convictions of some of the President's closest 
friends like Webster Hubbell, formerly the Number 2 man at the Justice 
Department, and Jim Guy Tucker, the former Governor of Arkansas.
  Judge Starr was the Solicitor General of the United States. He 
represented the Federal Government before the Supreme Court. He was a 
judge of the Federal Court of Appeals. He was one of the most respected 
lawyers and judges in this Nation until he started going after the 
President.
  If we had a conservative President in office, most of the media and 
most liberals would be attacking Mr. Starr for not being aggressive 
enough, yet Ms. McCree, in her interview, asked Mr. Ginsburg if Mr. 
Starr should be sued. Sued for what? For doing his job?
  Bernard Goldberg of CBS Television, in a column in the Wall Street 
Journal a couple of years ago, said the very liberal bias of the 
national news media is now so obvious that it is hardly worth 
mentioning. This from a veteran news man like Bernard Goldberg.
  Mr. Speaker, I think the thing that concerns me the most out of this 
whole situation is the message that we are sending to our young people. 
We seem to be saying that everyone is having affairs and that 
everything is all right and that there is not a real difference between 
right and wrong anymore. I can tell my colleagues that there is still a 
difference between right and wrong and not everyone out there is having 
an affair.
  I can say that it is interesting to me that women rate a very high 
percentage of men as having affairs. But if the same women were asked: 
Do you think your fathers ever had affairs or your husbands, that 
percentage drops way down. And I think the truth is I know millions of 
people have had affairs, but far fewer than many people seem to think. 
We need to send a better message to the young people of this country.

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