Bill Delahunt: “let me first express my affection and respect for my chairman, the Gentleman from Illinois, If Mr. Hyde says he hopes to…”

“let me first express my affection and respect for my chairman, the Gentleman from Illinois, If Mr. Hyde says he hopes to complete this inquiry by the end of the year, I know he will do all he can to make good on that promise. But if we adopt this resolution, the chairman's good intentions will not be enough to prevent this inquiry from consuming not only the remainder of this year but most of next year as well. Nine days ago, I joined with Mr. Berman, Mr. Graham and Mr. Hutchinson in a bipartisan letter asking Chairman Hyde and our ranking member, Mr. Conyers, to contact the Independent Counsel--before we begin an inquiry--to ask him whether he plans to send us any additional referrals. They wrote to Judge Start on October 2, and I wish to inform the House that last night we received his reply. He said, and I quote, ``I can confirm at this time that matters continue to be under active investigation and review by this Office. Consequently, I cannot foreclose the possibility of providing the House of Representatives with additional [referrals].'' There you have it, Mr. Speaker. Despite the fact that both Mr. Hyde and Mr. Conyers had urged the Independent Counsel to complete his work before transmitting any referral to the House, what he has given us in essentially an interim report. As the Starr investigation enters its fifth year, we face the prospect that we will begin our inquiry only to receive additional referrals in midstream.…”