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Justice DeLayed? Ethics Controversy Swirls Around House Majority
Leader
Family of Rachel Corrie Sues Israeli Government and Caterpillar
Inc. Two Years After She Was Crushed by Military Bulldozer
Rep. Adam Smith: "The Israeli Government Did Not Do
a Satisfactory Investigation" Into Rachel Corrie's Death
Justice DeLayed? Ethics Controversy Swirls Around
House Majority Leader
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) - one of the most
powerful members in Congress and a prolific fundraiser for
his party - is again under fire for potential ethics violations.
We host a debate with Chellie Pingree of Common Cause and
Stephen Moore of the Free Enterprise Fund.
House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, is - again - under fire
for potential ethics violations. Congressman Delay is one
of the most powerful members in Congress and a prolific fundraiser
for his party. Last year, the Texas Republican was admonished
three times by the House Ethics Committee - once for what
they labeled as "inappropriate behavior" - for trying
to influence a House member's vote.
In the past few weeks, other allegations have surfaced. These
include a Justice Department and Senate committee investigation
into whether a group of Republican lobbyists - who are close
to DeLay - provided trips abroad for Delay, his wife, and
other Republican lawmakers to influence legislation.
A 2001 trip that Delay made to South Korea was paid for by
an organization registered as a foreign agent. House rules
prohibit a foreign principal or lobbyist from paying the travel
expenses of House members.
Also, The National Journal revealed evidence, which showed
that Congressman DeLay illegally accepted money for travel
expenses from Jack Abramoff. Abramoff is a GOP lobbyist who
is himself under investigation for billing $82 million dollars
in lobbyist services to Indian tribes. At the same time -
in Texas - a local grand jury has indicted two of DeLay's
political associates on charges involving illegal campaign
contributions. The New York Times recently reported that Delay
was actively involved in raising money for the political committee,
which is the focus of this on-going investigation.
Delay has continually denied any wrongdoing. Speaking at
a weekly session with reporters he said, "With all the
partisan politics of personal destruction that the Democrats
have announced and have carried through on, I have yet to
be found breaking any House rules. It is very unfortunate
that the Democrats have no agenda. All they can do is try
to tear down the House and burn it down in order to gain power."
- Chellie Pingree, president and CEO of Common
Cause, a national non-partisan advocacy organization.
- Stephen Moore, President of the Free
Enterprise Fund. Moore has known Delay for 20 years.
He previously was the Cato Institute's Director of Fiscal
Policy Studies, and continues to serve as a Cato Senior
Fellow.
Family of Rachel Corrie Sues Israeli Government and
Caterpillar Inc. Two Years After She Was Crushed by Military
Bulldozer
Today is the second anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie
- the American peace activist killed by an Israel military
bulldozer when she attempted to block the demolition of a
Palestinian home in Gaza. Now, her family is suing the State
of Israel and Caterpillar - the U.S. firm that manufactured
the bulldozer that crushed her. We speak with Rachel Corrie's
father and older sister and the attorney representing them
in the suit against Caterpillar. [includes rush
transcript]
Today is the second anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie.
On March 16, 2003, the American peace activist was killed
when she attempted to block an Israeli military bulldozer
from demolishing the home of a Palestinian doctor in Gaza.
Eye-witnesses say Rachel was sitting directly in the path
of the bulldozer holding a megaphone and wearing a fluorescent
jacket when it ran her over, crushing her to death. She was
23 years old.
A U.S. congressional resolution demanding an independent
inquiry into Rachel's death was buried in committee for months
before it expired at the end of the 108th Congress, leaving
the Israeli military's investigation - which cleared itself
of any wrongdoing - as the only official investigation.
Now, on the second anniversary of her death, Rachel Corrie's
family is suing the State of Israel and the Israeli military.
In the lawsuit - which was filed in Haifa Tuesday - the family
is asking for roughly $324 thousand in direct damages, as
well as punitive damages. They also said they have yet to
receive all of the material from the IDF investigation.
This comes as Amnesty International today called on Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice to support an independent investigation
of Rachel Corrie's death.
In a separate lawsuit, the Corrie family is also suing Caterpillar,
Incorporated - the US firm that manufactured the bulldozer
that crushed Rachel. The federal suit alleges that Caterpillar
violated international and state law by providing specially
designed bulldozers to the IDF that it knew would be used
to demolish homes and endanger people.
In response, Caterpillar released a written statement saying,
"Caterpillar shares the world's concern over unrest in
the Middle East and we certainly have compassion for all those
affected by political strife. However, more than 2 million
Caterpillar machines and engines are at work in virtually
every region of the world each day. We have neither the legal
right nor the means to police individual use of that equipment."
In a moment we will be joined by Rachel Corrie's father,
Craig and her older sister, Sarah. But first we wanted to
bring you Rachel Corrie speaking just days before her death.
She spoke at a mock trial for George W. Bush in Gaza on March
5, 2003, held by a group called the Young Palestinian Parliament.
- Rachel Corrie, speaking in Gaza on March 5, 2003.
- Sarah Corrie Simpson, Rachel Corrie's older sister.
- Craig Corrie, Rachel Corrie's father.
For more information go to RachelCorrie.org
Rep. Adam Smith: "The Israeli Government Did
Not Do a Satisfactory Investigation" Into Rachel Corrie's
Death
We speak with Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), who delivered a letter
from the Corrie family to Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon,
calling for an independent investigation into Rachel Corrie's
death. [includes rush
transcript]
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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