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 TIME HAS COME FOR THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY TO RESIGN” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H12071 on Nov. 9, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
{time} 1830
THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY TO RESIGN
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Allard). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Kansas [Mr. Tiahrt] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, in order to start off this period of time where we are going to address some issues that have occurred today, some current articles, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hoke] for an opening statement.
Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say that the revelations brought forth this morning in the Wall Street Journal have caused me, along with many of my colleagues, to believe that the Secretary of Energy has crossed a line that goes far beyond the indiscretion, the mismanagement, and the incompetence which have, unfortunately, all too often been the hallmark of Secretary O'Leary's tenure. The Secretary has moved out of the gray area and leapt into an obvious and indefensible abuse of office. I am speaking of her use of taxpayer money to hire private investigators for the purpose of compiling a media enemies list. It is for this reason that we are sending a letter to the President of the United States asking him to demand Secretary O'Leary's immediate resignation.
It is clear that this specific use of taxpayer money is way beyond the pale.
Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, what we have found in some of the earlier period today, we got a lot of calls in my office where people thought this was more than just wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, but to use taxpayer dollars to hire a private investigative firm to develop information or an enemies list, as was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article, goes beyond, as the gentleman says, the gray area, and really crosses the line.
I think we have already started the process here on the floor of the House and around the Hill here of talking with different individuals. They have become very upset at what has happened today on revealing this, that the Secretary of Energy has misused these tax dollars. We have a letter that is, as was mentioned by the gentleman from Ohio, going to the President that has almost 70 signature on it now, and it has gained momentum. This is on top of other patterns that have been developing.
Over the last 6 months we have seen several articles in the paper about the travel that has been going on through the Department of Energy. Secretary O'Leary often takes many people with her when she travels. She upgrades to first class, stays at resorts or four-star hotels, and has really been living the good life on taxpayers' money.
Mr. HOKE. If the gentleman will continue to yield on that point, I think it is an ironic footnote that in fact when the White House, finding out about this, tried to determine where the Secretary was today, it turns out that, of course, the Secretary was not in Washington. In fact, the Secretary was in Louisiana raising money for the Democratic candidate for Governor in Louisiana, and had to be asked to come back to the White House to speak, apparently, to Mr. Panetta, the President's Chief of Staff, to explain, and perhaps more than to explain her actions in this regard.
Mr. TIAHRT. Once again, the travel budget seems to be the issue here. I think, again, we are just noting that this is a pattern that has been developing of wasteful management. Even Vice President Gore, in his National Performance Review, looked at the Department of Energy and found that in the environmental management portion, that they were 40 percent inefficient, citing that over the next 70 years it could cost taxpayers up to $30 billion if we do not do something about it.
Also we have found that the Department of Energy was 20 percent behind in their milestones, which means they are behind schedule in one out of five projects. So we have a pattern developing of poor management of the taxpayers' dollars.
Then we come to this morning's article, which says that this private investigative firm that was paid for out of taxpayer dollars was developing an enemies list, and we find out that Senator Dole is at the top of the list. Other Members of Congress were also involved. I heard from a member of the Department of Energy that I was also on the list, at No. 13. I think that is a very unlucky number for the Secretary.
Mr. HOKE. If the gentleman will yield for a question, what do you suppose would be the reaction of your constituents if you were to spend
$100 out of your official account to investigate and rate the media as to how they report on your official proceedings?
Mr. TIAHRT. The gentleman brings up a good point. All of us wonder how we are doing in the media, but none of us that I know of take taxpayer dollars and hire a private investigation firm to go in and do that, act for us. We all read the clips ourselves and make kind of a mental tally, but we do not misuse taxpayer dollars. I think that is the important difference between what goes on in Congress and what is going on in the Department of Energy, with the Secretary of Energy.
Mr. HOKE. I think it speaks for itself. It is just incredible. As the President's own press secretary, Mike McCurie, said today, ``On the face of it, it is simply unacceptable.'' When he was asked if she would be asked to resign, McCurie said, ``I don't want to speculate on that.'' I think the time has come when 68 of our colleagues agree, and counting, that the time has come for the Secretary to resign.
____________________
