by Jackson Thoreau, 11-20-03

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Petition signed by 2,200 Americans demanding the expulsion of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay presented to Congress ethics committee members

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Texas resident presented a petition on Friday to the two top Congress members of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct related to the behavior of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. Some 2,200 Americans -- including some fellow Republicans fed up with DeLays tactics - have signed a petition requesting that DeLay be expelled from the House of Representatives for misconduct and violation of House rules, especially the first rule of the House Code of Ethics.

That first rule states, "A member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives shall conduct himself at all times in a manner which shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives."

"Tom DeLay has not behaved in a manner that 'reflects creditably' on the House or on our country," said Jackson Thoreau, 44, a freelance writer who wrote the petition and presented it to aides to the House committee members. "He led the partisan power grab in Texas this year to gain more Republican seats through redistricting eight years before the state was scheduled to do so. That process forced Texans to waste millions while healthcare, education and other needs went unmet. And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to DeLay's pattern of abuses and disgraceful conduct."

Other examples of DeLay's abuses in the petition include:

* DeLay obstructed justice for low-paid sweatshop workers on the island of Saipan by taking large campaign contributions from Saipan's chief lobbyist and blocking any Congressional investigation of the appalling conditions there.

* DeLay obstructed justice by lying to the FBI when he charged that the reporter who broke the Henry Hyde adultery story in the 1990s had been working with the White House to expose Hyde.

* During a deposition for a lawsuit filed by a former business partner in the pest company in 1994, DeLay lied that he had not been an officer of the company for two or three years. On congressional financial disclosure forms filed in 1995, he listed himself as chairman of the company's board of directors.

* In 1997, DeLay actually shoved Rep. David Obey [D-Wisconsin] and called him a "chickenshit" on the House floor. That same year, DeLay tried to impeach federal judges he didn't like.

* In 1998, DeLay said that people with "foreign-sounding names" probably aren't Americans.

Even fellow Republicans have signed the petition asking that DeLay be removed from office, much like former U.S. Rep. James Traficant was in 2002. For example, Vicki Hill of Sugar Land, Tx., wrote: "Thank God someone else thinks the same thing -- he makes me ashamed to be a Republican."

And Mark O. Hammontree of Austin wrote, "I will switch to DEM from REP over redistricting!"

The petition and signatures can be seen on the Internet at http://www.petitiononline.com/tdl0000/petition.html.

Thoreau gave copies of the petition, as well as examples of the signatures, to the offices of Rep. Joel Hefley, chairman of the House Standards committee, and Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, ranking minority member of that committee. He asked that the committee, which starts the process of expulsion, open an investigation into DeLay's abuses.

Thoreau also distributed copies of the petition to other politicians on that committee, to DeLay himself, and to media members in the National Press Building and other places.