Maxwell Frost: “as one of the three Members of Congress representing Fort Worth, TX, home of former Speaker Jim Wright, I rise to urge…”

“as one of the three Members of Congress representing Fort Worth, TX, home of former Speaker Jim Wright, I rise to urge that Speaker Gingrich take down his own words. Last Friday, speaking to a Republican audience here in Washington, Speaker Gingrich referred to former Speaker Wright as a ``crook.'' In my opinion, such a comment does harm to the office of Speaker--both past and present. The truth of the matter is that former Speaker Wright served this body with dedication during his 34 years as a Member and 2 rac{1}{2} years as Speaker. Contrary to the remarks made last Friday, Speaker Wright was never convicted of a crime nor was he even ever charged with a crime in court. Additionally, though ethics charges were lodged against him with the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, that committee never ruled against him on the merits of those charges. It is my opinion that the current Speaker, Mr. Gingrich, would serve both his own party and this House by desisting from making such references as he did when in the minority. The country expects a degree of civility from the presiding officer of this body. I, for one, have always respected the leaders of the opposition party even when I disagreed with them on the merits of an issue. It would serve the Nation if our Speaker would do the same.”