[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 109 (Wednesday, August 5, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H7183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 JANET RENO'S FAILURE TO UPHOLD THE LAW

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I think most of us can agree this morning 
that the one basic task for the Attorney General is to uphold the 
Nation's laws. Yet, Janet Reno is refusing to do that by not appointing 
an independent prosecutor to investigate campaign abuses by officials 
in the Clinton administration.
  She is acting a lot like Rip Van Winkle, who was asleep for over a 
year. She has been asleep for the last year as her two top 
investigators, FBI Director Louis Freeh and the head of the Justice 
Task Force Charles LaBella have recommended an appointment of an 
independent prosecutor.
  The law is clear. The appointment of an independent counsel should be 
automatically triggered with just the hint of laws being broken by such 
officials. What more does she need?
  But meanwhile, the Attorney General Janet Reno keeps sitting on her 
hands blind to the evidence and, Mr. Speaker, blind to the law.

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