H 5386 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE May 23, 1995

inappropriate to do it until after the

congressional recess. Now we are told,

well, maybe after Memorial Day. Justice is being delayed and justice is

being denied because some people are

unwilling to make the hard choices,

the hard choices that demand that an

independent counsel act without political bias to evaluate these charges, to

decide whether they have merit.

Anyone, be they old or new, ought to

support that very old concept of impartial justice. Looking at these charges,

seeing that they are resolved only

through an independent counsel will

that be done and we need that action

immediately.

(Mrs. WALDHOLTZ asked and was

FOREIGN AID

fgiven permission to address the House

for 1 minute.

Mrs. WALDHOLTZ. Mr. Speaker,

Secretary of State Warren Christopher

said in January of this year, ‘‘The current structure of the foreign affairs

agencies developed in a world much different from today’s. It must change to

meet the demands of the next century.’’ He was right. And that is exactly what we are beginning today.

Today we begin the debate on the

American Overseas Interests Act which

will streamline the maze of foreign aid

bureaucracies, reduce foreign aid

spending and help set new priorities. It

is also an important part of the Republican commitment to balance the budget in a way that makes sense.

Under our plan, three foreign aid bureaucracies and dozens of programs are

eliminated and reformed, and we save

$21 billion over the next 7 years while

continuing to meet our commitments

to our friends and allies.

As every aspect of the budget comes

under scrutiny, foreign aid, however

well-intentioned, cannot be excluded.

We need to reexamine how and why

every dollar is spent, setting new priorities for a new world. I look forward to

a debate that can only improve our foreign aid programs.

OUTSIDE COUNSEL NEEDED IN

SPEAKER’S ETHICS CASE

f(Mr. STUPAK asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute.)

Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I am

deeply disappointed that the House

Ethics Committee has refused to hire

an outside counsel to investigate the

five ethics charges against the Speaker. Without an outside counsel, the

ethics charges will have to be investigated by House Members. That means

we will have politicians investigating

politicians.

Being a former law enforcement officer, I believe, and I have always voted,

that professional law enforcement officials should do investigations of other

Members of this House, not politicians.

Five dark clouds of doubt hang over

this Chamber. Let us have a special

outside counsel to investigate the ethics charges hanging over the Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we need an outside

counsel to do a professional investigation, not politicians. Let us remove the

five dark clouds of doubt and appoint a

special outside counsel now.

FOREIGN AID AUTHORIZATION

fBILL

(Mr. CHAMBLISS asked and was

given permission to address the House

for 1 minute and to revise and extend

his remarks.)

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, today

the House will take up consideration of

this country’s foreign aid authorization bill in which we establish our foreign policy priorities.

Last year as I campaigned throughout Georgia’s Eighth District, I heard

from folks who are very concerned

about the amount of money we spend

overseas while we have so many problems here at home, and I share that

concern.

Mr. Speaker, for those residents of

central and south Georgia and for all

citizens of this country, the new majority has shown its commitment to taking a fresh look at everything the Government does. Foreign aid is no exception. This bill today moves us in the

right direction and will cut $1 billion

from foreign aid spending in the upcoming budget.

We must not lose sight, however, of

the very real and numerous threats

around the world to the freedoms we

enjoy. As a member of the Committee

on National Security, I have seen those

threats. True, the cold war is over but

the world has not magically become a

safe place.

For the first time in many years, this

foreign aid bill today represents a

measured attempt to prioritize our influence and interests abroad. The United States is truly the leader of the

world and our foreign aid policy must

reflect that role by supporting our

friends and deterring our foes. I urge

my colleagues to support this measure.

OUTSIDE COUNSEL NEEDED IN

SPEAKER’S ETHICS CASE

f(Mr. WARD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WARD. Mr. Speaker, last week

on this floor I was told by the Speaker

of the House, NEWT GINGRICH, that as a

freshman I should learn the rules. This

weekend I have been studying and what

I have studied has discouraged me a

lot.

What I have found is that, according

to the Washington Post, all five Republican members of the Ethics Committee broke with 15 years of bipartisan

tradition and voted unanimously to

block an independent outside counsel

to investigate the charges that have

been leveled against Speaker GINGRICH.

We need to go back to the way the

Democrats did it. Under Democratic

leadership, the Ethics Committee has

appointed an outside counsel to investigate every major ethics case since

1979. I urge the Ethics Committee to do

the same in this case. What is to be

hidden? What is to be gained? If there

is nothing there, let an outside counsel

clear the air.

(Mr. ROTH asked and was given perTRIBUTE TO LES ASPIN

fmission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ROTH. Mr. Speaker, America

lost a real public servant this last

weekend in the death of Les Aspin.

Les Aspin was a young man. He was

only 56 years old. He served 22 years of

those 56 years here in the Congress. He

was also our Secretary of Defense.

He was a summa cum laude at Yale,

he attended Oxford, and MIT, so not

only did he have a great deal of political savvy but he was also very much

academically gifted. From his first

close race against a person by the

name of LaFollette, a magic name in

Wisconsin, to the time he left to become Secretary of Defense, Les Aspin

never lost a single political race.

I remember the first time I was here

on the floor with an amendment, Les

Aspin helped me get the amendment

passed. In an age when the Pentagon

got everything it wanted, there was

one person who started to holler, ‘‘No,

halt,’’ and that was Les Aspin. ‘‘Let’s

take a closer look,’’ he would say, ‘‘at

defense spending.’’

Mr. Speaker, we in this House have

not only lost a good friend but we have

also lost a true public servant. Not

only has America lost a good public

servant and we in Congress, but also

Marquette University, because Marquette is where he started teaching and

Marquette is where he worked when he

passed away.

It is only appropriate that Marquette

will be the place on Friday where we

will say our last good-bye to Les Aspin.

America truly has lost a wonderful

public servant.

TIME FOR AN OUTSIDE COUNSEL

IN SPEAKER’S ETHICS CASE

f(Mr. BONIOR asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute.)

Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, why is the

Ethics Committee making the special

exception in the case of Speaker NEWT

GINGRICH?

In every single high-profile ethics

case since 1979, both the Democrats and

the Republicans on the committee have

voted to appoint an outside counsel.

But last Sunday, according to the

Washington Post, all five Republican

members of the Ethics Committee

broke with 15 years of bipartisan tradition and voted to make a special exception for NEWT GINGRICH and block an

outside counsel.