John Hope Bryant: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the substitute amendment to which I referred a moment ago. We bring this amendment to…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the substitute amendment to which I referred a moment ago. We bring this amendment to the floor in order that every Member of the House might have an opportunity to vote as we voted in the Judiciary Committee in favor of an amendment on Member coverage. That amendment provides that whenever the Attorney General determines that it would be in the public interest, the Attorney General may conduct a preliminary investigation in accordance with section 592, if the Attorney General has received information sufficient to constitute grounds to investigate whether a Member of Congress may have violated any Federal criminal law other than minor misdemeanors. It makes it very plain that we continue to be covered as we have been covered for the last 10 years. As the Members know, the independent counsel law was enacted because the American people lacked confidence in the ability of the Justice Department to act impartially when allegations of criminal wrongdoing were made against high ranking officers of the executive department.”