Bill Delahunt: “after offering this amendment, I intend to ask unanimous consent that it be withdrawn. Its purpose is to really send a…”

“after offering this amendment, I intend to ask unanimous consent that it be withdrawn. Its purpose is to really send a message, and there is no need for me to insist on a vote at this time. More than 2 years ago now, and I believe to the collective relief of nearly every Member of this body, the Independent Counsel Act expired. Since then, almost all of the investigations pending at that time have been brought to a close. Yet 2 years after the expiration of the statute, one Independent Counsel, David Barrett, is still going strong at the cost of some $2 million a year to the American taxpayers, with no end in sight. Mr. Barrett was appointed in May of 1995 to look into charges that former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros had understated to the FBI the amount of money he had paid to a former mistress. It took Mr. Barrett more than 4 years and $9 million, but he eventually got his man. In the fall of 1999, almost 2 years ago, the former Secretary pled guilty to a single misdemeanor, for which he paid a fine and a $25 assessment for court costs. That was the rather anticlimactic end to the case involving Mr. Cisneros himself, but it was not the end of Mr. Barrett's investigation.”