[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 22987-22988]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            REPUBLICAN CORRUPTION AND ITS IMPACT ON AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, at a time when working families are trying 
to pinch pennies to pay for skyrocketing gas, record high heating bills 
and ever-increasing health insurance premiums, this is not the time for 
Washington to ignore the real needs of the American people.
  But that is exactly what has happened over the last 5 years under 
Republican leadership in Congress. Mr. Speaker, a culture of cronyism 
exists here in Washington unlike anything we have ever seen before. At 
the White House, we have the President's chief political adviser and 
the Vice President's chief of staff under investigation for illegally 
leaking a covert CIA operative's name to reporters. Today we learn that 
the Vice President himself may also be under investigation in that 
case. Evidently, according to today's Washington Post, the special 
prosecutor is assembling evidence that, and I quote, ``Cheney's 
longstanding tensions with the CIA contributed to the unmasking of 
operative Valerie Plame.''


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend. Members are 
reminded to avoid remarks personally offensive to the Vice President.
  Mr. PALLONE. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  Despite the fact that President Bush promised 2 years ago to fire 
anyone that was involved in the leak, both Karl Rove and Scooter Libby 
remain on the White House payroll.
  And it is just not over at the White House. Here on Capitol Hill, you 
have the Republican Senate leader under investigation by the SEC for 
possibly having inside information on stocks that he sold off earlier 
this year. Over on this side of the Capitol, the Republican majority 
leader was forced to step down from his leadership post----


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend. Members are 
reminded that they are to avoid personalities toward Senators, as well.
  Mr. PALLONE. Okay, Mr. Speaker.
  Shortly after the majority leader stepped down, Time Magazine's 
Jonathan Alter wrote about the majority leader's tenure as majority 
leader and how the Republican majority leads this House. Alter recalls 
his first visit with DeLay a decade ago. These are Alter's own words, 
and I quote: ``A decade ago, I paid a call on Tom DeLay in his ornate 
office in the Capitol. I had heard a rumor about him that I figured 
could not possibly be true. The rumor was that after the GOP took 
control of the House that year, DeLay had begun keeping a little black 
book with the names of Washington lobbyists who wanted to come see him. 
If the lobbyists were not Republicans and contributors to his power 
base, they----


                         Parliamentary Inquiry

  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, a point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his point of order.
  Mr. STEARNS. Can a Member of Congress intimate as the gentleman from 
New Jersey is doing about Mr. DeLay in reference to a black book and 
all the innuendo that he is doing on the House floor? Can he do that?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman stating an inquiry or 
making a point of order?
  Mr. STEARNS. I am stating an inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New Jersey has not 
yielded for purposes of a parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I am just reading from Time Magazine, so I 
do not see why I cannot continue.
  As I said, the gentleman from Texas may no longer be the majority 
leader, but he is still wielding power here in this Chamber and that 
power is not benefiting the American people. Instead, the actions of 
the House Republican majority benefit only a small few to the actual 
detriment of everyday Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, it is no wonder that this House only brings legislation 
to the floor that benefits the wealthiest few in our Nation, because 
these are the people who are in Tom DeLay's black book. The House 
Republican leadership has heard that the American people are struggling 
to afford skyrocketing gas prices, so what do they do? House 
Republicans pass an energy law this summer that even the Bush 
administration admits will do nothing to lower gas prices for the 
American consumer. Instead, the energy law provided billions of dollars 
in tax breaks for oil and gas companies, and these are companies that 
are already experiencing record profits.
  What about the American people? Well, as Alter explains in the Time 
Magazine article, they are not in the Republican leadership's black 
book and so their concerns really don't matter to the Republican 
leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, whether you are in New Jersey or wherever you happen to 
be, the American people do not like what is happening here in 
Washington. They see examples of cronyism in every Republican corridor 
and they want it to stop. The American people want us to get back to 
addressing their needs and their concerns. It is time for the House 
Republican leaders to throw away their special interest black books 
like the

[[Page 22988]]

one that Tom DeLay has so they can finally listen to the real needs and 
concerns of ordinary Americans.

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