Political Quotes

“first, I want to thank the Members of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for concluding what has been a 4-year nightmare to myself and my family. In fact, 4 years, 1 month and 31 days ago, a group associated with Ralph Nader filed an ethics complaint against me. I have agreed to accept a single letter of reproval to settle this matter. Now, this letter of reproval deals with matters of appearances of improprieties to which I acknowledge. I am very pleased that the committee dismissed the wild and inaccurate charges originally filed by the Nader group. I am very pleased that not a single allegation, not a scintilla of evidence, not a hint of any of this referred to any actions that I took that influenced my activities as chairman of my committee. Now, the Webster dictionary defines reproval. As we know, a letter of reproval, by definition, is the mildest form of sanction. The Webster dictionary defines it as, and I quote, ``to scold or correct, usually gently and with kindly intent.'' Now, I must confess I feel neither gentle nor kindly about this 4- year nightmare which has been so difficult for my family and which has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.”