[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11194]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                POLITICAL AGENDA OF DEMOCRATIC WATCHDOGS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, government watchdogs seem to be popular 
these days. They claim to keep an eye on politicians to keep them 
honest. Political Money Line is gathering data that is available to the 
public on who is paying for congressional travel. That is a watchdog. 
It puts the truth out for the public and sounds a warning when there is 
a problem.
  However, other so-called watchdogs are not watching out for the 
public; they are promoting their own political agenda. They are 
partisans. Four of the big ones, Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics 
in Washington, Common Cause, Public Citizen, and Campaign Legal Center 
all have deeply embedded partisan ties with the Democrats. Together, 
they have hired Democrat staffers and former Democrat public officials, 
and they have contributed millions to Democrats in elections. Together, 
they have launched an attack on their partisan rivals and their number 
one enemy, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay).
  They do not care about the public. They care about power. They want 
it back. This has nothing to with watching out for the public, but 
everything to do with partisans deceiving the American people and 
trying to change the party in power.

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