George Miller: “earlier this week this Congress and the Nation watched as the Republican leadership and the Speaker of this House…”

“earlier this week this Congress and the Nation watched as the Republican leadership and the Speaker of this House bargained with, negotiated with, and twisted the arms of the members of the Republican caucus to support the Speaker to be reelected as Speaker of this House for the 105th Congress. That was done because the effort was made to be sure that we would vote on the Speaker of the House of Representatives before the Ethics Committee had completed its work. That was unconscionable, Mr. Speaker, that we would in fact do that. But now this morning we learn that the Ethics Committee is continuing in that path, because we see now that the schedule of the Ethics Committee that has been set forth by the chairperson of that committee requires that the House will vote on whatever recommended punishment the committee will make to the House, that the House will vote on that prior to the issuance of the final report of the Ethics Committee. What does this mean? It means that both the Members of the House of Representatives and our constituents will be denied the access to the information necessary on which to make an informed judgment, very similar to the situation that those who supported the candidacy of Speaker Gingrich earlier this week were put in, in having to vote for him for Speaker before they knew whether or not he was ethically fit to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives.”