Louise Slaughter

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. This is a critically important piece of legislation that everyone in the House should support without reservation. H.R. 4311, which amends the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, will make permanent an expiring provision which protects the safety of our Nation's judges as well as the integrity of our judicial system. And I know that everyone here remembers, as Mr. Sensenbrenner just reminded us, the horrifying murders of a Chicago judge's family members this past summer. These crimes were committed by an individual, who was angered by a ruling on his case. He went to the judge's home to confront her and, while there, shot her husband and mother in cold blood. The bill we have before us will allow judges who have been threatened to withhold certain personal information from public record, information, such as their home address, that has been used in the past for the most tragic of ends. And I want to emphasize that I strongly support the bill and I commend the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for bringing it to the floor today. No one here wishes to avoid our responsibility to protect those men and women who form the bedrock of our legal system, nor do any of us desire to in any way detract from the significance of this bill. However, Mr. Speaker, I believe that this bill does not go far enough. My conscience compels me to pause here and remind my friends on the other side of the aisle that we are discussing a reform to the Ethics in Government Act, which should be extended to really talk about ethics in government, a vitally important piece of legislation which, when it was passed, confirmed the national commitment to the creation and preservation of the government as good and as ethical as the people it serves. I, therefore, cannot let this moment pass without speaking of what has become a standing source of shame for this body and for this Nation: the collapse of ethical conduct within our House. Mr. Speaker, I have no choice but to speak of the topic here and now because this is the last time the House will address the subject of ethics this year. Ethics reform has not made the Republican leadership's December agenda, just like it has not made the cut all year long. But the ethical conduct of Members of this body is on the minds of those in whose interest we claim to act, the American people. They are demanding that action be taken, and it is on their behalf that I speak now. The bill we will hopefully approve today is an example of the kind of legislation we should be passing here. It puts the well-being of the American people first. But the majority ushered in the year by putting itself first, gutting the ethical standards imposed on Members of this body so that they could more easily take advantage of the people's trust and get away with it. With a little time and distance, it is now painfully obvious why the leadership went to such great lengths to roll back the ethics rules of the conference and of this House. A prolonged and impassioned public outcry forced the majority to abandon this blatant assault on ethics several months later, but the battle was far from over. Even though the Republicans were shamed into retreat on the ethical assault, we have not had a working Ethics Committee in this House all year and we still do not today. As Members may recall, the majority initially attempted to eliminate its power, and when it could not do that, it fired the qualified investigative staff and tried to deliberately politicize the committee, and we have not had a working ethics process since. Only recently have we been able to forge an agreement which could restart the ethics process next year. And for both his principled stand in defense of the rules of the body and for his patience and commitment to restoring the ethics process, I commend the ranking member of the committee. But the real question still lingers: What was the majority hiding? Despite their best efforts, the truth has come forth, and every day brings a new revelation which demonstrates the extent to which power has been abused and corruption scandals have mounted. Indictments and resignations have dominated the headlines. And Member after Member of this body has been shown they have committed their votes not in the public interest, but to special interests, those who seek the benefit of the few at the expense of the many. Critical decisions at Federal agencies are being unethically manipulated by White House political operatives, and the results of these decisions are having a direct impact on the people of this Nation. Make no mistake about it. This White House and this leadership have placed America up for sale to the highest bidder, and it is the American people paying the price while corrupt politicians and special interests reap the profits. Citizens of this Nation have watched it all, stunned, disillusioned, and increasingly angry. The majority leader of the House repeatedly admonished on ethical violations and is now indicted for money laundering. A Member resigned in shame and pled guilty to bribery. New investigations by the Justice Department threatening to embroil many more of our colleagues in the growing stench of corruption surrounding Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. And as the public trust is battered and broken and potential ethics investigations pile up, the Ethics Committee chairman, who fired an experienced staff and supported changing the rules, has announced he will not conduct additional investigations into serious allegations of corruption because we do not have the money. Apparently, we cannot afford an ethics process in this government, only more tax cuts. From this majority leadership, there has been no leadership. And the startling truth is it has been almost 12 months since we have had a functioning ethics process in the House. We still have no working Ethics Committee. We have no ethics reform. And after 12 months, we have scandal and deception and only silence, and that has become a national shame. The time for accountability is now. The time for real reform is now. And the time for change is certainly now. And surely, Mr. Speaker, America can do better than this.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller). (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the minority whip.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield the balance of my time to the minority leader the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley). (Mr. CROWLEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt), the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, the speed with which the majority has sought to challenge the frank and honest appraisal of the war in Iraq offered yesterday by my friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), proves that what he said resonated with the American people. Over 60 percent of our Nation no longer believes that we are headed in the right direction in Iraq. When Mr. Murtha spoke yesterday, he spoke for the majority of our country. Concerns such as those voiced by Mr. Murtha are not a sign of weakness, nor are they the product of a failure of resolve or willingness to cower before adversity as many administration apologists have suggested. Rather, they follow from a logical assessment of one of the most respected military affairs in international relations experts that we have in all of these United States, and that is exactly what has this congressional leadership and this White House so concerned. That is why they have gone out of their way in the last 24 hours to attack the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha). It amounts to nothing more than another swift boat attack on an American hero. After all, attacking those who have the temerity to challenge this White House is what Republicans in Congress do best. But they have chosen a formidable target in Jack Murtha. Unlike our President, our Vice President, our Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State or the vast, vast majority of the Members in this House, Jack Murtha knows combat. At the age of 34, he did not have to go and fight in Vietnam, but he did. He is a decorated veteran and an American hero at a time when many others were shirking any possibility of going to Vietnam. He knows our troops and he cares for them deeply and he has regularly visited them in the hospitals. There he has seen their wounds. He has stood by them during their time of need and listened to their hopes and fears. He has been to Iraq and seen the state of the nation with his own eyes. He is a true patriot and wants only the success of the United States and the Iraqi people, and that is why he spoke with such passion yesterday. Representative Murtha spoke for the American people when he said that the time has come for a change in direction, and everyone in this Chamber knows that because Jack Murtha is one of the most widely respected Members in this House. No matter the attack that this majority chooses to employ against those who would question them, the reality on the ground is obvious to all who wish to see it. America's continued military occupation of that nation will not bring stability. Our forces are drawing fire, not suppressing it; and their presence on foreign soil is serving as a catalyst for all of those who wish to do us and Iraq harm. Insurgent attacks are on the rise, and more American and Iraqi lives are lost every single day. We can no longer continue on this failing path, unwavering with no end in sight. We can no longer ask Americans and Iraqis to give up their lives for a goal which we are making less sustainable by the hour. We must chart a new course. Mr. Murtha's redeployment plan comes from an experienced statesman and soldier who has and will continue to do whatever he thinks is best for this Nation. I implore my colleagues across this aisle to realize that continued Republican attacks which seek to dismiss and to discredit the valuable critiques of knowledgeable legislators, as well as the heartfelt will of the American people, will succeed in silencing neither. Nor will they change the reality on the ground in Iraq. More Republican assaults will not hide the gross management and corruption which has plagued the administration's attempt to prosecute the war, and they will not mollify America's growing concerns over flawed intelligence, broken trust, subverted values, and shameful acts of torture, all forced by the hand of an administration that answers in half-truths and obfuscations. These cynical and all-too-typical Republican attempts to silence dissension, stifle debate, and discredit those who would dare to hold them accountable will only serve to elevate the power of the message that Mr. Murtha is delivering to this government and to the American people and to our troops. The Republicans today by attacking him succeed only in betraying themselves. The dramatic nature of their panicked response has clearly demonstrated how incredibly valued Mr. Murtha's judgement is to military experts at the Pentagon, to Members of Congress, and to the American intelligence community. And the strangest thing that I shall ever see is the people who believed that they were rewriting Mr. Murtha's resolution. Mr. Murtha, with a reasoned withdrawal, had nothing even remotely like the resolution we are debating this evening, which is the Republican resolution written by the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) which calls for the immediate withdrawal of the troops in Iraq. I believe they have got some explaining to do. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Ms. SLAUGHTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) who lost everything in Katrina.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.