The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE VOID IN MORAL LEADERSHIP--PART IX” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S5456-S5457 on May 21, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE VOID IN MORAL LEADERSHIP--PART IX
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last Sunday marked the third anniversary of the firings of the Travelgate Seven from the White House travel office. That is 3 years of the Federal Government harassing these innocent public servants, and their families, and the harassment continues as I speak. This is a story of an abuse of power by the new occupants of the White House, back on May 19, 1993.
The Clinton White House used the full powers of the Federal Government to fire these seven loyal workers, destroy their reputations, deplete their bank accounts, steal their dignity, and cause great suffering for their families.
I wonder how many Americans have been the target of an abusive Washington bureaucracy--like the IRS.
Or how about when four Federal agencies fight over the right to tell a farmer how to use land that his family has been farming for three generations.
And how many small businesses have been harassed by OSHA or EPA?
Untold numbers of citizens across this land have been harassed and abused by the Federal Government. Hard-working families try to play by the rules. Next thing they know, they are unfair targets of zealous Washington bureaucrats who are out of control.
Mr. President, no hard-working, honest citizen should have to go through such an ordeal. It is unjust and unfair. Government is supposed to promote justice and fairness, but Washington turns these principles upside down.
There are many examples of bureaucracies harassing citizens; but there are few examples of Washington putting the full force of its powers against decent, hard-working families. The case of the Travelgate Seven is one such example. For them, the harassment was many times greater than what most citizens have endured. These seven provided a service for the President and the press corps in the interest of open government. Their bosses were seven previous Presidents and the American taxpayers. But cronies of President Clinton, infatuated with newly derived power, coveted the business for themselves.
The only barriers to themselves and a lucrative business were these seven loyal workers, so the cronies went on the attack. First, they spread false allegations against the seven workers, accusing them of mismanagement and embezzlement. This led to their firings by the President.
When there was a public backlash, the White House damage-control operation went into full gear. The White House publicly smeared the reputations of the workers with all the false charges. The workers and their families were publicly humiliated. Next, to justify the false charges, the White House then unleashed the FBI and the IRS on them. Finally, the Justice Department prosecuted them on trumped up charges.
Nearly 3 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later, a jury acquitted the fall guy and scapegoat of the White House offensive, Billy Dale. They acquitted him in less than 2 hours.
There can be no doubt that this case was a miscarriage of justice, no doubt that these seven workers were unjustly and unfairly persecuted. And no doubt that the President made a mistake in firing them. Yet, the President has failed to own up. He has failed to take responsibility for their firings and their continued harassment.
There is lots of finger-pointing and blaming going on at the White House, but no one will stand up and take responsibility for what happened. That is usually the sign of failed moral leadership. The leader in the White House--the President--will not take responsibility for the unwarranted firings at the behest of cronies and then, he will not seek accountability for whoever unleashed the powers of the Federal Government to harass the Travelgate Seven.
Mr. President, is it unfair to ask the President to take responsibility for his actions? Is it unfair to hold accountable those zealots on his staff that unjustly unleashed the FBI, the IRS, and the Justice Department on these innocent employees? Is it unfair that the President should admit that he made a serious mistake?
Instead of considering these questions, the President has sent his lieutenants out to again harass these former workers. The House of Representatives earlier this year voted overwhelmingly to provide legal expenses for the Travelgate Seven. It had bipartisan support. But when the bill came to the Senate, it was ambushed by Clinton loyalists. They were afraid of the embarrassment it would cause the President to have to sign such a bill that would prove he had made a serious mistake. Rather than face the music, the President sent out his lieutenants to block the bill in the Senate. They succeeded. The minority leader succeeded in using the Senate procedures to block consideration of the bill that would make these seven families economically whole, and put the ordeal behind them--not psychologically whole, not their reputations whole, not their dignity whole, not their pain and suffering whole, just their expenses--the least of what should be restored.
The President's lieutenants--the Democrats in this body--shot the bill down. It was pure and simple legislative harassment. That was on May 7. And so, the harassment continues. It is simply not right. It is not fair. And they need to be held accountable.
Mr. President, is it fair for these Democrats to not do the right thing just to save the President from embarrassment? I will let the American people answer that question. Perhaps they will call the office of their Senator.
Tell the Democrats to stop playing politics with the Billy Dale bill. After all, they voted 52 to 44 on May 7 to block the Billy Dale bill.
Mr. President, the bottom line of this story, and of the record of this President, is the absence of moral leadership. A President--a leader--who fails to take responsibility for his actions; who allows cronies to run roughshod over innocent employees; who allows his staff to violate the civil rights of these workers; who lets his staff unleash the powers of the Federal Government against innocent families; who fails to seek accountability for those who did the unleashing; and who covers it all up by claiming executive privilege--in light of all this, can we truly call this President a leader?
He has failed to set the proper example for the country. He has failed to set an example for the people he serves--the American people. He has failed to set an example for his own staff. And, he has failed to set an example for the seven fired workers and their families. Rather than face the music, the President has his lieutenants do his dirty work in the darkness of night, and in the Democratic cloak room, all to avoid the embarrassment of his mistakes.
In the coming weeks, the Billy Dale bill will be brought to the floor again--this bill to restore hope and dignity for these families. I call upon the American people to not allow this injustice to stand. Make the Senate Democrats do the right thing. Make them support the Billy Dale bill. This morning's Washington Post editorializes on this matter. The editorial is entitled, ``Another Travel Office Travesty.'' It says, get politics out of the way and pass this bill. I agree, Mr. President. I urge my Democratic colleagues to get out of the way. I ask unanimous consent that the Post editorial be printed in the Record and I yield the floor.
There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
Another Travel Office Travesty
Why are some people in Congress maneuvering to keep that institution from making right some of the wrongs done to fired White House travel office employees? Nothing the Congress can enact will make up for the damage done to the reputations of these workers. But fooling with them the way they are is simply wrong.
The travel office fiasco should have been resolved days ago. Billy Dale and his six travel office colleagues were summarily dismissed from their jobs in 1993 for the shakiest of reasons. They were summarily told to vacate their offices by the incoming Clinton White House and publicly smeared with charges that they had engaged in wrongdoing. White House staff that had an interest in taking over the travel office even helped to concoct the allegations. The reputations of the fired travel office employees were unfairly damaged, and Mr. Dale in particular was made to undergo a painful and costly ordeal before he was exonerated by a jury.
All of the fired employees incurred legal expenses in connection with criminal probes launched against them following their discharge. Mr. Dale bore $500,000, the lion's share, but no ex-travel office employee escaped without a crushing debt burden. The others incurred about $200,000 themselves. So to undo at least some of the damage, legislation was introduced in Congress to reimburse them for some of the costs of defending themselves. The House passed the bill by an overwhelming 350 to 43 vote. President Clinton says he will sign it. Sen. Orrin Hatch has introduced the bill in the Senate.
But Senate Democrats have been blocking action on the Hatch measure because they want a vote on the minimum wage increase and can't get one. To make matters worse, the Dale bill was amended by Bob Dole to include the Republican gas-tax repealer. Hence, Bill Dale et al. are now part of the Senate's five-car pile-up, the rest of which includes the minimum wage boost, gas tax cut, taxpayer bill of rights, and the T.E.A.M. measure.
Mr. Dale and the former travel office employees, having taken shots from the White House and lost much in the process, are now caught in another political crossfire. The people holding up action on the reimbursement of the misused travel office employees should back off. The time has come to rectify a wrong.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________
