[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 10, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H399-H400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE RULE OF LAW SHOULD MATTER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 20, 2004, the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, just for a second I would like to go over 
the remarks of the gentleman from Ohio where he says that the 
Republican administration actually promotes the outsourcing of jobs, 
reducing jobs here in the United States. It almost makes it sound like 
the Bush administration does not care about Americans.
  Keep in mind, for every 100 jobs we export, we create one or two very 
rich Americans; and, on balance, that may be thought to be a good thing 
by the Bush administration.
  We also have a huge half trillion dollar trade deficit.


              theft of documents from judiciary committee

  But I want to remind my colleagues of a day back in 1972 when we had 
a positive trade surplus and when the Watergate headquarters of the 
Democratic Party was burglarized. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy went 
to jail for that burglary because Republicans here in Washington 
believed that the rule of law was more important than Republican 
success.
  Today, a similar crime has been committed. At the Senate Committee on 
the Judiciary, a computer server that was jointly used by Democrats and 
Republicans was burglarized, and thousands of the Democrats' documents 
were stolen, far more than Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy ever thought 
to steal.
  A shared computer server is not an unusual thing on Capitol Hill. My 
Democratic colleagues need to be reminded that every e-mail we send, 
every e-mail we receive goes through a shared computer server, under 
the control ultimately of the Speaker of this House and his staff. But 
we Democrats here in the House do not believe that the Speaker and his 
staff are criminals. We believe they are honorable men and women, and 
so we send e-mail today just as we do every other day.
  What is happening in the other body, Mr. Speaker? A small cabal has 
decided to burglarize documents. That is the same as what happened back 
in 1972, but what is more interesting is that the predominant power in 
the Republican party, the predominant power here in Washington, wants 
to protect this act of robbery.
  Sure, one staffer has been fired. Now that staffer is free to obtain 
lucrative employment and cash gifts without having to report it. 
Another staffer has left, and that staffer boasts about being in 
control of stolen documents, stolen property. Instead of going to jail 
for being in possession of stolen property, he trumpets how he is going 
to use this property for the support of the Republican position.
  The rule of law should matter. We are told, though, that the rule of 
law is being upheld because a couple of staffers lost their jobs. Since 
when is it the criminal law in this country that if one steals 
something the only sanction is they have to go get employment 
elsewhere?
  We are told that this crime is not a crime because it was a shared 
computer server. That is a little dangerous for Democrats in the House, 
where every e-mail is going through a shared server under Republican 
control.
  It is also a complete repudiation of American criminal law. If two 
partners share a safe deposit box or a safe, that does not mean that 
one can use the combination to steal all the cash and valuables that 
the other has put in it. It is very clear. Sharing a box does not mean 
one gets to steal the other person's or other entity's property. Except 
that is what it seems to mean in the Republican lexicon.

[[Page H400]]

  Burglary and robbery are reasons for people to be indicted and sent 
to jail. That is what happened to G. Gordon Liddy, that is what 
happened to Howard Hunt, and we will see whether the Republicans in 
control of this House and the other body, and in control of Washington 
and all of its agencies, will make sure that there is a criminal 
investigation of this theft. Stealing from a safe is wrong, even if one 
has been trusted with the combination.
  If this does not happen, then we in the House will have to look at 
the additional governmental expense involved in having a separate 
Democratic e-mail server. Because how can we trust a Republican Party 
that seems to have gone from a party that puts the rule of law first to 
one that glorifies burglary and defends criminals?
  I look forward to the indictment of those who committed robbery.

                          ____________________