Joel Hefley

Mr. HEFLEY

Mr. HEFLEY. Reclaiming my time, I will say to the gentleman, we have to try to save the money wherever we can save it, and there is where we have a chance to save it.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. HEFLEY

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I call up the privileged resolution (H. Res. 495) in the matter of James A. Traficant, Jr., and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I yield 15 minutes of my 30 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman), the ranking member of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, for his control of that 15 minutes.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise to speak in opposition to the motion by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), and I oppose the motion for the following reasons: The bipartisan membership of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has worked diligently, and I think fairly, over the course of several months, and this has brought us to the resolution under consideration today to expel Representative Traficant. The committee following regular order has placed this matter in the hands of the leadership to schedule it whenever the leadership deemed appropriate. In fact, when asked what I wanted in this, I said, ``If you let it lay over until September, that is fine with me. If you schedule it now, that is fine with me. Whatever you think is best for the schedule, that is fine with me.'' They scheduled it for tonight, and so tonight is the night that we need to do this business. The committee reached its decision to sustain nine counts of misconduct against Representative Traficant based on clear and convincing evidence before it. In an article in the Youngstown, Ohio Vindicator, dated July 23, yesterday, the juror, I think the same juror that Mr. LaTourette mentioned: ``Leo Glaser said today that his vote to convict U.S. Representative James A. Traficant, Jr., stands. Glaser, juror number 8 in the Federal District Court trial in Cleveland, said his quotes in a newspaper story over the weekend were somewhat inaccurate. ``He said he found the headline in the Cleveland Plain Dealer story, `Traficant juror changes his mind; now convinced conviction was wrong,' especially inaccurate.'' So while I have sympathy for what Mr. LaTourette is trying to do, I do not know if this juror thinks he made the right decision or he did not make the right decision. I cannot tell from these stories. But, Mr. Speaker, I would urge that Members vote against this motion. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute, and then I am going to yield to the gentleman from Missouri. There is a lot that we do not know, as the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) said, about the argument that the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant) made about judicial misconduct or prosecutorial misconduct. There is a lot we do not know about that. What we do feel we know, however, is that there was clear and convincing evidence on the charges that he was charged with before the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, and in summary, that is four counts of bribery over a long period of time; that is obstruction of justice; that is defrauding the government through the use of congressional staff for personal service; and there was false statements on income tax returns. We think we know that by clear and convincing evidence. Clear and convincing, those of my colleagues who are attorneys know better than I do, equals highly probable. Clear and convincing evidence means it is highly probable that he is guilty of these offenses. It does not equal absolute certainty, and it does not even equal the reasonable doubt standard that the judge mentioned over here. It means it is highly probable. That is what the committee's conclusion was. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Hulshof).

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield myself the balance of my time. I would just sum up with a few statements at this point. This is no rush to judgment. We have been struggling with this for some time. Most of my colleagues have not been as intensely involved with it, nor should you be, because you have other responsibilities and you have given us this responsibility. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant) is not getting 30 minutes to defend himself. He is getting 30 minutes here on the House floor. He had 5 hours before the committee, and it amounted to a great deal more than that because we gave additional time for him. He had the entire hearing process to defend himself. The gentleman that just spoke said he had not had time to really study it and understand. Well, the trial transcripts have been on the Internet for at least a week. Monday, the exhibits and the transcripts were all delivered to Members' offices. We are busy, and I know it is hard to have time to go through, and it is volumes of material, so I am not criticizing anybody for that, but my colleagues have heard tonight from the members of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, members that have been deeply and intensely involved in this over the last few weeks and months, as a matter of fact. And not one member of that committee did I sense was out to get Jim Traficant. I sensed no hint of partisanship in that hearing. And I would suspect that Jim Traficant would agree to that, that there was not a partisanship angle to this in the committee. I think this was a very painful decision for every one of us. Jim Traficant and I have been friends. Jim Traficant has been a friend to most of you in here. This is not a pleasant time or a pleasant task. If I thought that between now and September 4 the landscape would change substantially, then I might be with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) and say let us put this off until September. But, my colleagues, I must say that the largest single profession represented in the United States Congress is lawyers, so you know, and I am not a lawyer, but my colleagues know that the appeals process can drag on and on and on for months, sometimes for years. So if we do not do this tonight, I do not know exactly when we are going to do it. I just do not think it is going to change between now and September 4. So I would respectfully ask that Members reject the motion of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette). Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I will yield for that request. That is not passing judgment on the motion.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to yield half of that time, 30 minutes, to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant). That leaves me with 30 minutes. And I would like to yield for control of the time, half of that time, 15 minutes, to the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) who is the ranking member of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Mr. HEFLEY. For debate only.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Again I renew my call for the privileged resolution, I think it has been read, so I rise in support of that House Resolution 495 which calls for the expulsion of Representative James A. Traficant, Jr., from the House of Representatives. On July 17, 2002, the Adjudicatory Subcommittee of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct held pursuant to the vote requirements of committee rule X that nine of the 10 counts contained in the statement of alleged violations adopted by the Investigative Subcommittee in the matter of James A. Traficant, Jr., had been proved by clear and convincing evidence. These counts involved findings that Mr. Traficant engaged in the following acts that did not reflect credibly on the House of Representatives: Bribery by trading official acts and influence for things of value; demanding and accepting salary kickbacks from his congressional employees; influencing a congressional employee to destroy evidence and to provide false testimony to a Federal grand jury; receiving personal labor and the services from his congressional employees while they were being paid by the taxpayers to perform public service; and filing false income tax returns. On July 18, 2002, the full Committee on Standards of Official Conduct held a public sanction hearing to determine what sanction, if any, the committee should recommend to the House of Representatives with respect to the nine counts of the statement of alleged violations proven by clear and convincing evidence in this matter. With respect to any proved counts against Mr. Traficant, the committee may recommend to the House one or more of the following sanctions: We could recommend a fine, we could recommend a reprimand, we could recommend censure or we could recommend expulsion from the House of Representatives, and two other possible recommendations would be denial or limitation of any right, power, privilege or immunity of Mr. Traficant if permitted under the U.S. Constitution, or any other sanction determined by the committee to be appropriate. With respect to the sanctions that the committee may recommend, reprimand is appropriate for serious violations, censure is appropriate for more serious violations, and expulsion is appropriate for the most serious violations. Due to the most serious nature of the conduct in which Representative Traficant engaged, including repeated and serious breaches of the public trust, the committee reported this resolution to the House on July 19, 2002, with its unanimous recommendation that Representative Traficant be expelled from the House of Representatives. In its 213-year history, the House has expelled only four of its Members. Three of those expulsions occurred during the Civil War and were based on charges of treason. The fourth expulsion was that of Representative Michael J. Myers in 1980 and was based on Representative Myers' conviction on Federal bribery and conspiracy charges arising from the ABSCAM investigation. It is important to note, however, that the number of actual expulsions from the House should be considered with regard in light of the fact that a number of Members who committed violations of the most serious nature resigned their seats or lost elections before formal action could be taken. Mr. Speaker, when each of us was sworn in as a Member of the House of Representatives, we took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Article I, section 5 of the Constitution states that each House of Congress may punish its Members for disorderly behavior and expel a Member with the concurrence of two-thirds of its Members. One of the last lines of our oath of office states that each of us will ``well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.'' To my thinking, it is this section of the oath that is the focal point of the proceedings tonight. None of us ever wants to sit in judgment of our peers. There are some unique occasions, however, when the behavior of an elected official violates the public trust to such an extent that we are called upon to uphold this provision of the Constitution that we swore to support and defend. It is for this reason, and I have to tell you, friends, with a genuine sense of sadness, that I bring this resolution to the floor of the Chamber tonight. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert), a member of the committee. (Mrs. BIGGERT asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. HEFLEY. Just this gentleman, and then myself to close.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I do have some additional comments I will give at the appropriate time, but I would like the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant) to know at this time that I am going to waive my right to close in this serious matter and give him the right to close.

Mr. HEFLEY. Yes, Mr. Speaker. So that when the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) is through, I will make a few comments.

Mr. HEFLEY. I will be happy to yield the balance, if I do have some left, but I do not believe I will.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant) is a Member with whom many of us have served for years and years. Many of us are very fond of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant); but at times like these we are required to set aside those personal feelings, those feelings of friendship, and fulfill this weighty responsibility. As chairman of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, it is my duty to ask the House of Representatives to expel the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant). I want to thank the members of the committee that I have served with through this. They serve us well. I want to thank our outstanding staff. They serve us well. And I particularly want to thank Members for being here for almost 3 hours. It is seldom that I have seen almost every Member of the House of Representatives on the floor for 3 hours. What that tells me is that Members take this as seriously as I do and as the rest of the committee does, and thank you for that. It is important that we do not take something like this lightly. We do not take it lightly. Mr. Speaker, if I have any time remaining, I yield it to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant).

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. HEFLEY

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, due to the significance of these proceedings and the desire of many Members to express their views on these grave and somber proceedings, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks for the Record.

Mr. HEFLEY

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I was in a defense conference with the Senate and missed my opportunity to offer this amendment on page 57. We have barely passed it. I do not think the committee is going to accept it, but I would at least like the opportunity to offer it. If they would grant me unanimous consent to do so, I would appreciate that.

Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?