[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13470-13471]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               MEDIA SPIN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, in this job, all of us are 
used to misinformation, lies and distortions and manipulation by the 
media. We refer to that as spin; but, Mr. Speaker, I never expected 
such spin to come from the no-spin zone of Bill O'Reilly.
  Mr. Speaker, on Friday my staff confirmed that I was to do a 
television show with Mr. O'Reilly last evening. It was initially 
scheduled to be seven o'clock. I had a 5:15 meeting scheduled with the 
Secretary of Energy.
  At some point in time yesterday morning, the O'Reilly show changed 
that appointment to 5:50. My 5:15 meeting was still in place. My staff 
was fully in touch with the O'Reilly show. We gave them the 
information, and I attended a very important meeting with Secretary of 
Energy Bodman in his office, a classified meeting, on the specific 
problems with the threats of the nuclear program and capabilities of 
the former Soviet states.
  That meeting ran over, partly because the meeting was interrupted 
several times by important phone calls the Secretary had to make.
  Following that meeting, which ended somewhere around 6:15, as my 
colleagues know, we had a series of six votes on the House floor.
  Mr. O'Reilly proceeded to tell his national audience last night that 
I ``snubbed'' him; that I failed to call him; that I was inconsiderate; 
that I was rude.
  Talk about spin, Mr. Speaker. So today, I sent a memo to Mr. O'Reilly 
explaining the facts, and I would remind Mr. O'Reilly that the 
Secretary of Energy and an important meeting on nuclear issues in the 
former Soviet States takes my top priority.

                              {time}  1800

  So do the six votes I had to pass last night on the defense 
appropriation bill for 2006.
  Mr. O'Reilly, we do not need more spin. We need honesty and candor. 
You call for it every day. Now perhaps your staff is not providing the 
appropriate level of service to you.
  Mr. Speaker, because I had some contacts from constituents and 
Members, I would put the summary of my statement to Mr. O'Reilly and 
the notes of my staff about their contact with Mr. O'Reilly's show into 
the Congressional Record.

       Bill O'Reilly, I have now witnessed the ultimate spin--
     from, of all people, you.
       My scheduled taping last evening between 6-6:30 pm was pre-
     empted by a prolonged 5:15 pm meeting with the Secretary of 
     Energy Sam Bodman regarding important National Security 
     issues related to non-proliferation activities in the former 
     Soviet states and by a series of 6 recorded votes on the 
     Floor of the House that started at 6:30 pm and lasted until 
     7:15 pm.
       Contrary to your spin, my staff did give notice to your 
     staff of both conflicts and kept them informed of my status 
     during the scheduled taping. In addition my staff offered for 
     me to appear as soon as votes ended. Finally when I tried to 
     personally reach you, your staff was not willing to provide 
     my staff with a suitable number.
       As much as I would have enjoyed returning to your show, my 
     job as a Member of Congress and as Vice Chairman of both the 
     House Armed Services Committee and Homeland Security 
     Committee is to cast my recorded vote on issues that affect 
     our nation, in this case, the 2006 Defense Appropriations 
     bill and related amendments which will fund our troops 
     through 2006.
       I hope you understand these obligations and I apologize for 
     any inconvenience this unanticipated series of events caused 
     to you and your staff.
                                                      Curt Weldon.
       As of Friday, O'Reilly was marked as tentative on the PR 
     calendar and CW's calendar at 7:00 pm.
       After I left on Friday the DOE meeting was set up for 5:15 
     pm.
       At some point on Monday morning, O'Reilly was confirmed by 
     PR and changed on their calendar to 5:50.
       At 12:35 pm, I was notified of the change via e-mail from 
     Kristina.
       I spoke to Peter on the phone and asked if O'Reilly could 
     be moved to later given Curt's 5:15 meeting. He informed me 
     it couldn't but not to worry if Curt wasn't there right at 
     6:00.
       The change was made to CW's calendar at 1:25 pm.
       I spoke to Porter around 1:30 and informed him of Curt's 
     schedule prior to O'Reilly (i.e. a meeting with the Sec. of 
     DOE). I told him Russ would be with him and gave him mine and 
     Russ' numbers.
       From 5:45-6:30 Porter called me looking for Curt and Russ. 
     I informed him they were still in the classified meeting and 
     I was not able to get in touch with him.
       Around 6:15 I asked if they need to cancel--Porter said 
     that wasn't an option.

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