6th Congressional District Democrats
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Gordon N. Hintz
September 29, 2005
Rep. Petri, Does Tom DeLay’s Behavior Still Resemble a Traffic Violation?
OSHKOSH – Yesterday, a Texas grand jury indicted House Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay on charges of conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, after earlier this month indicting DeLay’s Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC) for illegally accepting a $100,000 contribution from special interests. DeLay, who was forced to step down today from his leadership post, also faces serious ethics charges that have been filed in Washington, D.C.
During a debate last October at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s Reeve Memorial Union, Representative Tom Petri was asked whether he believed DeLay — a Texas Republican rebuked for raising campaign funds from a company standing to gain from an energy bill and other well-documented ethic violations — should resign as majority leader.
“I don’t think so,” said Petri, a former House ethics committee member. When asked about the ethics reprimands DeLay had received at that time, Petri responded, “It’s a little like a traffic violation. You can get arrested for things, but it’s not like it’s murder.”
“It is exactly the type of attitude that Mr. Petri displayed at last year’s debate - that corruption and ethic violations are no big deal – that allow people like Mr. DeLay to run our political system with illegal corporate money,” said Gordon Hintz, 6th CD Democratic Chair. “The truth is, Republicans like Tom Petri and Mark Green have continued to stand by Tom DeLay despite serious criminal and ethics charges, further eroding the faith the American people have in honest government and a clean political process.
“People in Wisconsin deserve someone representing them who will stand up to the Tom DeLays. Representative Petri continues to be a rubber stamp for the Republican Party and scandal plagued politicians like Tom DeLay.”
To watch Representative Petri discussing Tom DeLay’s ethics violations in 2004, go to:
http://www.jef4wi.com/6thCDDebate-DelayEthics.wmv
http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/Sept05/Sept30/09306thdemsdelay.pdf
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