Time: Tue Sep 02 06:57:08 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id GAA16350; Tue, 2 Sep 1997 06:56:53 -0700 (MST) by usr09.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id GAA09110; Tue, 2 Sep 1997 06:50:13 -0700 (MST) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 1997 06:50:15 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Gephart Threatens-If Dornan Challenge Continues (fwd) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit <snip> > >Gephardt threatens to 'shut House down' if Dornan challenge continues > >Copyright © 1997 The Associated Press > >WASHINGTON (September 1, 1997 8:58 p.m. EDT) -- Defeated Republican Rep. Bob >Dornan often enraged colleagues with his bombastic speeches, so it's not >surprising that his legal challenge to win back his seat is producing a >volatile reaction. Democratic leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., is threatening >to "shut the House ... down" if a Republican investigation of Dornan's >defeat continues. > >But Republicans insist they'll forge ahead with a probe of the conservative >Californian's 984-vote upset loss to Democrat Loretta Sanchez in >California's 46th congressional district last year. > >"We believe we have to get to the bottom of it," said Rep. Bill Thomas, >R-Calif., who has jurisdiction as chairman of the House Oversight Committee. > >A three-member House task force is reviewing Dornan's allegations that >Sanchez won because of voter fraud by illegal aliens and other non-U.S. >citizens in the Orange County district. > >Both parties acknowledge that illegal votes were cast in November, but the >level of wrongdoing is strongly disputed. > >Dornan contends there were enough improper ballots to support a new >election. Sanchez -- the first woman and Hispanic sent to Congress from the >district -- says she won the race fair and square. > >Gephardt has asserted "there's no question" that Sanchez won. > >If Republicans "continue in this immoral pursuit, the Democratic Party in >the House of Representatives will shut the House ... down until this >investigation is shut down," he fumed. > >Gephardt's emotional warning -- indicative of the strong reactions Dornan >frequently drew during his nine congressional terms -- came in a recent >speech to La Raza, which represents Hispanic-Americans. > >Dornan said Democrats are unjustifiably raising the issue of race in the >dispute. > >"The Democrats better pray I don't get a special election, because if I'm >re-elected I will take them apart line by line for their racist attacks on >me and the Republican Party," Dornan said in an interview. Dornan said his >challenge "has nothing to do with race." > >The acknowledgement of some vote fraud sets the House investigation apart >from a Senate probe of last year's Louisiana Senate race. Republican Woody >Jenkins' has challenged the victory of Democrat Mary Landrieu. > >Without any consensus on that disputed election, Senate Democrats withdrew >from the probe earlier this summer and are threatening to stall Senate >legislation if Republicans don't halt the investigation. > >Such legislative stalls are common in the Senate, where a single member can >tie the chamber in knots unless 60 of the 100 senators vote to end a >filibuster. In the House, where a simple majority rules in most cases, such >threats are more rare. > >But this case is not ordinary. > >First, there have been allegations of racism, with Democrats contending >Sanchez was challenged because she's Mexican-American and with Republicans >labeling Democrats as racist for even making the suggestion. > >Second, the case involves Dornan, who also was a Republican presidential >contender in last year's GOP primaries. > >Dornan's fiery House speeches often evoked intense anger from Democrats, who >many times >demanded that his words be stricken from the official record. It wasn't just >Dornan's words that provoked his critics. It was his frenzied style as he >attacked homosexuals, President Clinton, pro-choice advocates on abortion >and other liberal targets. > >His staunch backing for the B-1 bomber in the 1980s earned the former Air >Force pilot his enduring nickname, "B-1 Bob." > >Sanchez, who said she has spent $400,000 in lawyer's fees on the case so >far, is trying to get on with business. > >"I'm concentrating on the work we have in the House," Sanchez said. "This >office is the people's office. It's not Bob Dornan's office. It's not my >office. ... It's got to stop." > >Sanchez' lawyer Wylie Aitken said she won "and there is absolutely nothing >that has been discovered that in any way detracts from that." > >"The law is very clear," said Michael Schroeder, one of Dornan's lawyers. >"It says that if there are more illegal votes than the margin of victory, >you must vacate the seat." > >Outside of Washington, a joint criminal investigation by the California >secretary of state and the Orange County district attorney is focusing on >the voter registration activities of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional -- a >county-based immigrant aid group that runs citizenship classes. > >Bill Jones, the California secretary of state, has found that at least 303 >people who voted in the 46th District election weren't citizens at the time, >making their ballots invalid under state law. > >That alone wouldn't affect the outcome since it doesn't exceed the margin of >victory and no one knows which candidate the individuals supported. > >--By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press > >Copyright © 1997 Nando.net ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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