Ernest Istook: “it is never a pleasant task to have to address this Chamber, and those others that are listening in, on something of the…”

“it is never a pleasant task to have to address this Chamber, and those others that are listening in, on something of the gravest import that involves the integrity and the dignity of this body, however a situation has arisen that is very tempting for Members of Congress to attempt to sweep under the rug, to disregard and hope that it will go away. But unfortunately it will not. What I am speaking about is, of course, the scandal that has arisen through the House post office, something that for a long time had been rumored--a couple of years ago Members, many Members, thought that the rumors were untrue because of a task force investigation that seemed to issue a clean bill of health, and then there was a shock wave that came across this particular body last summer, 6 months ago, when the former Postmaster of the U.S. House of Representatives post office pleaded guilty in a sudden appearance in Federal court to three counts of conspiring with Members of Congress to embezzle tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money from the House post office...”