House Republicans Choose Delay Over Decency

WASHINGTON – Campaign for America’s Future Co-director Robert Borosage today condemned House Republicans for changing a decade-old party rule to allow Majority leader Tom DeLay to keep his leadership post if he is indicted by a Texas grand jury on political corruption charges. Borosage urged citizens to stand up against the Republicans.

The original rule was established by GOP leaders, including DeLay, in 1993 to set the stage for the “Republican Revolution.” The rule required House Republican leaders and the heads of committees to surrender their positions if indicted for crimes punishable by a prison term of at least two years.

A Texas grand jury is probing irregularities and campaign finance violations related to the state’s 2002 legislative races. Republican victories in those contests enabled DeLay to win support for a congressional redistricting plan that gave Republicans five congressional seats in Texas in this month's elections.  The grand jury has already indicted three political operatives associated with DeLay’s political action committee.

STATEMENT OF ROBERT BOROSAGE

House Republicans have, once again, made Machiavelli proud and shamed the Founding Fathers. Their first order of business after the elections was to choose DeLay over decency.

Americans want lawmakers to respect the law. Now that the Republicans have political control, they want to allow leaders indicted of felony violations to stay in charge.

This is one of the most corrupt congresses ever. Honest Americans worried about the direction of the country expect better from the ruling party.

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