Thomas M. Barrett: “several weeks ago this House took the extraordinary action of banning Bob Dornan from the floor because of the…”

“several weeks ago this House took the extraordinary action of banning Bob Dornan from the floor because of the embarrassing display he put on for the Members of this House and the American people. What is unfortunate is that even though he has been banned from this floor, neither he nor the Republican party have given up on trying to restore his seat that he lost fairly and squarely to the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Sanchez]. The Republican Party has continued to go after the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Sanchez], and I fear the reason they are going after her, frankly, is because she is a woman and a minority. They think she is fair game. And even though she won the election fair and square, they are trying to reverse a decision that was made by the people of California. The people have spoken, Madam Speaker, and what we should do is we should honor that election. There have been allegations of fraud, but there certainly have not been any allegations of fraud sufficient to upset this election. This election should not be put aside. It should stand. The people of California, in 1998, can decide at that time whether the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Sanchez] should be allowed to continue in office. But it is wrong for her and it is wrong for the democratic process to take that seat now.”