[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15352]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE ETHICS COMMITTEE INVESTIGATION OF SENATOR ROBERT TORRICELLI

  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, for the last 7 months, the Senate 
Ethics Committee has reviewed documents and statements relating to 
allegations made against me by a former political contributor and 
friend. I am now in receipt of the conclusions of the committee.
  I thank the members of the Ethics Committee for their hours of 
deliberation. I also apologize to each of them for subjecting them to 
the painful ordeal of sitting in judgment of a colleague.
  In closing its preliminary inquiry into this matter, the Ethics 
Committee has concluded that in several specific instances rules of the 
Senate were violated. As a consequence, the committee has admonished 
me. I want my colleagues in the Senate to know that I agree with the 
committee's conclusions, fully accept their findings, and take full 
personal responsibility.
  It has always been my contention that I believed that at no time did 
I accept any gifts or violate any Senate rules. The committee has 
concluded otherwise in several circumstances and directed me to make 
immediate payment in several instances to assure full compliance with 
the rules of the Senate. I will comply immediately.
  I apologize to the people of New Jersey for having placed the seat of 
the Senate that they have allowed me to occupy in this position. The 
day I was elected to the Senate remains among the most cherished of my 
life.
  During recent weeks, I have spent long nights tormented by the 
question of how I could have allowed such lapses of judgment to 
compromise all that I have fought to build. It might take a lifetime to 
answer that question to my own satisfaction.
  The question I want every person in New Jersey to have answered today 
is that all during this ordeal I never stopped fighting for the things 
in which I believe. I never compromised in the struggle to make the 
lives of the people I love better.
  I am grateful that this matter has come to a close, regretful as they 
might be, sorrowful as I remain. I thank my colleagues for their time 
and their attention.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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