[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 24, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           ETHICAL CLOUD HANGING OVER WASHINGTON GROWS DARKER

  (Mr. ALLEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, the ethical cloud hanging over Republicans in 
Washington grows darker.
  Every good lawyer and judge knows the importance of avoiding 
conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest. Last 
month, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia went hunting in Louisiana 
with Vice President Cheney, on land owned by an oil executive. They 
flew on Air Force Two, at taxpayer expense.
  Three weeks earlier, the Supreme Court agreed to decide In Re Cheney, 
a case brought to force Vice President Cheney to disclose information 
about his secret energy task force meetings with oil executives. 
Justice Scalia said afterwards, ``I do not think my impartiality could 
reasonably be questioned.''
  He is wrong. He has no business deciding a case of enormous 
significance to his friend and hunting companion.
  To preserve the integrity of the Supreme Court and to maintain the 
trust of the public, Justice Scalia should recuse himself from any role 
in the Cheney case. And Vice President Cheney should have been the 
first to ask him to do so.

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