[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 21 (Thursday, March 5, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               LEGISLATION TO PREVENT PROSECUTORIAL ABUSE

  (Mr. McDADE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDADE. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing legislation cosponsored by 
our colleague Jack Murtha that will safeguard the citizens of this 
Nation from unfair, abusive and unethical conduct by rogue employees of 
the Department of Justice.
  The bill establishes clear standards of conduct for Department of 
Justice employees and makes them accountable for transgressions.
  The legislation makes it punishable, for example, for a DOJ employee 
to engage in actions such as seeking the indictment of a person without 
probable cause, failing to release information that would exonerate 
someone under indictment, or misleading the court.
  An independent review board is created to monitor compliance with 
those standards, and that board would have the authority to impose 
penalties on those found guilty, all of this done in public.
  For the information of my colleagues, I am submitting for the record 
a lengthy list of cases where U.S. courts have found prosecutorial 
abuse. This list was prepared by the Library of Congress at my request.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this bill, which would 
ensure the constitutional rights of American citizens.

                          ____________________