Houston Democrats

Regarding the March 10 front-page story "S. Korean Group Sponsored DeLay Trip"; the March 12 front-page story "Gambling Interests Funded DeLay Trip"; and the March 14 front-page story "DeLay Ethics Allegations Now Cause of GOP Concern":

First, these articles discuss trips that occurred four and five years ago, respectively, and contain no real news. Second, House ethics rules allow educational organizations such as the National Center for Public Policy Research to sponsor congressional travel. Both the trip to Britain and the one to South Korea were reported to the relevant House office. Both before and after the stories appeared, staff members in the majority leader's office denied any implications that Tom DeLay's votes were improperly affected by the travel or that he had violated any House rule.

Third, regarding the trip to Britain: The majority leader believes that the National Center for Public Policy Research receives contributions from an array of individuals and entities. The president of the center said the center paid for the trip and would have paid for the trip with or without the contributions from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and eLottery Inc., and representatives of both donors said that they were unaware their donations would be used for the trip. Yet the March 12 headline misleadingly proclaims: "Gambling Interests Funded DeLay Trip."

Similarly, as both Republican and Democratic ethics experts eventually made clear, the trip to South Korea in 2001 "may have" broken House rules (as proclaimed by the March 10 headline) only if Mr. DeLay knew the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council was a registered foreign agent at the time he took the trip. Yet nothing in the article or elsewhere supports that suggestion.

Fourth, the majority leader's opposition to gambling is widely known. The implication that his trip to Britain was related to his vote against the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act is rebutted by contemporary media accounts. As The Post reported, the majority leader was but one of 44 Republicans, including most of the House Republican leadership, voting against the bill. Indeed, according to President Clinton's White House, "This bill appears to be designed to protect certain forms of [illegal] gambling."

On behalf of the majority leader, I urge your reporters and especially your headline writers to eschew innuendo and to strive to report the facts in a fair and objective manner.

BOBBY R. BURCHFIELD

Mr. Burchfield we don’t need your excuses for what Tom DeLay is alleged to have done. DeLay should address us directly and give a full explanation of his accounts.

First, it doesn’t matter when DeLay’s trips occurred. If they were improperly funded, then it is still a misuse of funds. They may not contain "real news," but I certainly had not previously heard about DeLay’s junkets.

Second, House ethics rules may allow educational organizations, including the National Center for Public Policy to sponsor congressional travel. However, it should be obvious that when accepting money, it is one’s responsibility to understand from whom and from where those funds originated. Pleading ignorance is not an excuse. As citizens of the United States, we are responsible for understanding the laws by which we are supposed to live. If one is caught breaking a law, ignorance of that law is not an acceptable reason for why one should not be punished for the transgression.

Third, DeLay should have made certain that the money for his trip did not come from contributions made by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and eLottery Inc., especially since the House was working on gambling legislation in order to maintain a degree of separation. Additionally, I quite simply do not put any store in DeLay’s word. As the saying goes, "Where there is smoke, there is fire," and there has simply been too many links and evidence substantiating at least some of the allegations for DeLay to say that he is totally innocent.

Fourth, DeLay may oppose gambling, but that does not prove he did not take any money from groups that also opposed the bill.

This letter is an explanation for the allegations, but it does not provide any proof to back up its claims.

So, Tom DeLay if you really are innocent and had no knowledge of these dealings, then why don't you open all of your records to the public in order that we might put these suspicions to rest? Then we could move on and refocus the nation’s attention on much more important social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, health insurance for everyone, quality education, and other pressing international affairs. I do not believe you have been candid with the people or been forthcoming with evidence to support your version of events.

To quote page one of the Republican Party National Platform:

"Ronald Reagan believed that people were basically good, and had the right to be free.
He believed that bigotry and prejudice were the worst things a person could be guilty of.
He believed in the Golden Rule and in the power of prayer.
He believed that America was not just a place in the world, but the hope of the world."

Tom DeLay, these values do not expressly belong to the Republican Party, or indeed to any political party. Honorable legislators should make every effort to address allegations of the abuse of power and come to a sound judgement. Take particular note to the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." You may feel like you are being attacked and degraded by the reports of the Washington Post and from the rest of the media, but you have done the same to the citizens of Texas District 22 and the common citizens throughout the United States. Your past actions are now catching up with you.

Where are your moral values and character of which the Republican Party speak so ardently? Charcter and values are promoted by example. Look at the current investigation into baseball for steroids. Similarly, politicians should make every effort to provide a respectable image of what others can aspire to be as a citizen serving the needs of the people. What happened to the "army of compassion" that was supposed to serve "the disadvantaged, neighbors, friends, and moral individuals created in the image of God." Instead it seems to have been replaced by big business, dishonesty, corruption, and hypocrisy.

DeLay, please note this statement from the Texas Republican Party Platform: "We believe... each person’s ability, dignity, freedom, and responsibility must be honored and recognized."

We do not need any more weak responses denying your involvement and the ways in which the media and Democrats are doing wrong to you. It's not wrongdoing but rather accountability. If there is nothing in your past business and political records to incriminate you, then you should have no reason to fear any retribution. The only way to stop these "baseless allegations" is for you to make your complete business and political dealings available for the people to judge for themselves. For that, we need honest answers.