E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 104 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 142 WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1996 No. 131 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. and was THE JOURNAL Whereas a failure of the Committee to re- called to order by the Speaker pro tem- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The lease the outside counsel's report before the pore [Mr. MILLER of Florida]. adjournment of the 104th Congress will seri- Chair has examined the Journal of the ously undermine the credibility of the Ethics last day's proceedings and announces f Committee and the integrity of the House of to the House his approval thereof. Representatives: Therefore, be it Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- Resolved, That the Committee on Stand- DESIGNATION OF THE SPEAKER nal stands approved. ards of Official Conduct shall release to the PRO TEMPORE f public the outside counsel's report on Speak- er Newt GingrichÐincluding any conclu- The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE sions, recommendations, attachments, ex- fore the House the following commu- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Will the hibits or accompanying materialÐno later nication from the Speaker: than Wednesday, September 25, 1996. gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. MONT- WASHINGTON, DC, GOMERY] come forward and lead the The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under September 20, 1996. House in the Pledge of Allegiance. rule IX, a resolution offered from the I hereby designate the Honorable DAN MIL- Mr. MONTGOMERY led the Pledge of floor by a Member other than the ma- LER to act as Speaker pro tempore on this jority leader or the minority leader as day. Allegiance as follows: NEWT GINGRICH, I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the a question of privileges of the House Speaker of the House of Representatives. United States of America, and to the Repub- has immediate precedence only at a lic for which it stands, one nation under God, time or place designated by the Chair f indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. in the legislative schedule within 2 leg- f islative days. The Chair will announce PRAYER ANNOUNCEMENT OF INTENTION TO that designation at a later date. OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A determination as to whether the The Reverend Dr. Ronald F. Chris- resolution constitutes a question of tian, office of the bishop, Evangelical QUESTION OF PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE privilege will be made at a later time. Lutheran Church in America, Washing- f ton, DC, offered the following prayer: Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, Almighty God, with Your mercy new pursuant to clause 2 of rule IX, I here- DRUG USE SKYROCKETING UNDER to us every day irrespective of our na- by give notice of my intention to offer PRESIDENT CLINTON ture, and with Your grace provided to a resolution which raises a question of (Mr. BURR asked and was given per- each one alike without regard to need, the privileges of the House. mission to address the House for 1 we pray, give to each one of us, O God, The form of the resolution is as fol- minute and to revise and extend his re- Your gift of peace, so that our lives lows: marks.) will be an example of Your righteous- Whereas on December 6, 1995, the Commit- Mr. BURR. Mr. Speaker, America is ness. tee on Standards of Official Conduct agreed to appoint an outside counsel to conduct an losing the war against drugs. As a fa- Give to our Nation, O God, the ear- independent, nonpartisan investigation of al- ther of two young children, I under- nest search for justice, so that our con- legations of ethical misconduct by Speaker stand the fear felt by every parent as versations and actions will show a de- Newt Gingrich; they send their kids off to school each sire for what is right. Whereas, after an eight-month investiga- morning. Give to those ordained with respon- tion, that outside counsel has submitted an Over the past several years, this ad- sibility for leadership a sense of awe extensive document containing the results of ministrationÐthrough its irresponsible his inquiry; and a spirit of humility that will offer Whereas the report of the outside counsel actions and indifferent wordsÐhas cre- thoughtful and useful commentary on cost the taxpayers $500,000; ated a world where drug use is not only behalf of those without voice. Whereas the public has a rightÐand Mem- blatantly ignored but is often the And give to us all a measure of Your bers of Congress have a responsibilityÐto ex- source of careless chuckles and love, so that compassion can be our amine the work of the outside counsel and thoughtless jokes. This is not the envi- benchmark for honor, kindness the wa- reach an independent judgment concerning ronment I want my children to grow up terline for friendship, patience the the merits of the charges against the Speak- er; inÐdrug use is not funny. starting pole of brother and sisterhood, Whereas these charges have been before But worse than the rhetoric is the and hope the finish line for our lives. the Ethics Committee for more than two record. Actions speak louder than Amen. years; words, Mr. Speaker. President Clinton b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H10723 H10724 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE September 20, 1996 has eliminated drug agent after drug 12, 1995, the gentlewoman from Califor- you understand why they also brought agent. The number of people pros- nia [Ms. WATERS] is recognized for 60 the guns in with them. ecuted for Federal drug charges has minutes as the designee of the minor- We wondered in south central Los dropped and programs have been cut. I ity leader. Angeles, where are these guns coming ask you, how many times have you Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I come from? They were not simply handguns, heard the President of the United today to continue my discussion on the they are Uzis and AK±47's, sophisti- States tell your children to ``Just say matter of the San Jose Mercury News cated weapons brought in by the same `no'?'' article that revealed the dumping of CIA operatives because they had to en- President Clinton's abandonment of cocaine into south-central Los Angeles force bringing the profits back in. strict, effective drug policy has led our by CIA operatives, cocaine that was About this time when you saw more young people down a disturbing road of spread among the Cripps and Bloods and more guns coming into the com- skyrocketing drug use. Jokes on MTV gang members and eventually in cities munity, you also saw more and more are not acceptable and reckless dis- throughout this Nation. killings, more and more violence. Now regard from the bully pulpit is inexcus- I am spending a lot of time on this we know what was going on. The drugs able. issue because I believe it is important out in our communities on consign- ment were being put out to the gangs f for the citizens of this country to know and understand how this country finds and others; if they did not bring the THE ADMONISHMENT COMMITTEE itself with crack addiction, crime, profits back, the guns were brought in (Mrs. SCHROEDER asked and was crack-born babies, hospitals overloaded so that they could enforce the control. given permission to address the House with overdoses of crack cocaine, turf You got killed. People were sent out to kill others. The killings just mount- for 1 minute and to revise and extend wars, all of this devastation. Where did ed in south central Los Angeles, and her remarks.) it come from? Who caused it? This arti- people said what are they fighting Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, I cle, or these series of articles that were about? What are these drive-by am amazed. I think it is time we start done by the San Jose Mercury News shootings about? What is this gang calling the Committee on Standards of must be focused on. Mr. Gary Webb, warfare about? And people said oh, it is Official Conduct the admonishment the author of the series, is a Pulitzer about the colors; some like red, some committee. Yesterday they issued ad- Prize winning journalist. like blue, well, you know it was about monishment No. 6 for our Speaker, and This is not a fly-by-night journalist. drugs. It was about crack cocaine in- they went on to say in there, which I This is not someone who just thought troduced into our communities by peo- this up and decided they would write find really quite amazing, the commit- ple who brought it in with a purpose. tee concludes that the Speaker's con- something. He spent over a year inves- Why did they do this? According to duct of allowing the routine presence tigating the leads that came to him. Mr. Blandon, he is on record under in his office of Mr. Jones demonstrates And what did he uncover? It is abso- oath testifying at a trial that, yes, he a continuing pattern of lax administra- lutely startling. Mr. Gary Webb discov- was a CIA operative but he was also en- tion and poor judgment that has con- ered that in the late 1970's, 1979, early gaged in funding the war in Nicaragua.