House Rejects Bid to Reopen Ethics Inquiry

The House on Wednesday rejected a move by conservative Republicans to reopen the ethics committee investigation of the finances of Rep. Fernand J. St Germain, chairman of the House Banking Committee.

The measure was defeated 291-111 largely along party lines as a lone Democrat joined 110 Republicans in support of the measure. Fifty-one GOP members voted against the resolution.

Republicans led by Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia introduced the measure to force the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to reopen its probe of the Rhode Island Democrat after a recent published report that St Germain improperly allowed a lobbyist to pay for his entertainment expenses.

“We are not coming to this floor saying, vote to judge Congressman St Germain,” Gingrich said. “All the committee had to say was, ‘We will investigate, and we will report back.’ ”

Follows 14-Month Probe

But Rep. Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the ethics panel, said it would be wrong to renew the investigation based on “rumor” when a 14-month committee probe produced no evidence of the allegations.

St Germain, a 14-term congressman, first came under scrutiny after a 1985 Wall Street Journal article said he had become a millionaire with help from investors he aided in his chairman’s post.