Motion to Settle Sanchez Election Inquiry Is Rebuffed

An attempt to settle the ongoing dispute over last fall’s election of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) was thwarted Saturday when Republican leaders on Capitol Hill refused even to debate the matter.

After two days in which individual Democrats and Republicans have been negotiating behind closed doors, the public rebuke by GOP leaders dimmed Democrats’ hopes that the election challenge filed by defeated Republican incumbent Robert K. Dornan would be dismissed before Congress adjourns for the year.

Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) introduced a resolution on the House floor that called for the case to be dropped. But Gephardt recommended that an investigation into illegal voting and voter registration procedures by California authorities and the House Oversight Committee should continue.

Hoping to attract support from at least a handful of Republicans, Gephardt stripped from the resolution the inflammatory rhetoric accusing the GOP of harassing minority voters and Sanchez that has characterized similar offerings in recent days.

But the strategy failed. Immediately after the motion was read on the floor, it was tabled by a near party-line vote.

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), who sits on the committee investigating the election, said that Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) had promised him there would be an hour of debate and a vote on the substance of Gephardt’s motion. But Hoyer said Armey told him he had changed his mind just before Gephardt rose to introduce the resolution.

Hoyer said, “If there was fraud, it should be investigated,” but said no solid evidence has been uncovered that could possibly overturn the outcome of the election.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. William M. Thomas (R-Bakersfield) has repeatedly said that he wants to wait until California Secretary of State Bill Jones completes his review of a list of suspected noncitizen voters before ending the investigation.