[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 61 (Thursday, May 14, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  WHITE HOUSE WOULD RESERVE PRIVACY RIGHTS FOR CRIMINALS AND NOT THE 
                                INNOCENT

  (Mr. KNOLLENBERG asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, we have just gone through an exercise 
talking about the rule of law. The White House has recently become 
remarkably solicitous of the privacy rights of convicted felons.
  While the coddling of criminals is nothing new for liberals, what is 
new is the idea that the White House cares about privacy rights for the 
law-abiding.
  I ask the White House, what about the privacy rights of the 900 
Republicans whose FBI files ended up in the hands of political 
operatives in the White House?
  What about the privacy rights of Billy Dale and the other Travel 
Office employees? Rights which were trampled upon by the IRS and the 
FBI in a despicable smear campaign.
  In this strange new world, privacy rights are reserved for convicted 
criminals and denied to the innocent.
  Mr. Speaker, this entire episode is a perfect example of the liberal 
mindset when it comes to crime: Misplaced priorities, double standards, 
and always, always, always, preference for the rights of criminals over 
the rights of the law-abiding.

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