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Paxon's Statement on His Resignation

Friday, July 18, 1997

Full text of a July 17 written statement by Rep. Bill Paxon (R-N.Y.) explaining his resignation from the House Republican leadership:

Last night I offered the speaker my resignation as chairman of the House leadership, which was accepted this morning.

I want to make this clear: I have always acted in what I believed to be the best interests of this speaker and the Republican majority which he heads. Nevertheless, both my word and my relationship with the speaker have been called into question by my involvement in last week's attempt to resolve and heal a growing crisis of confidence within our party's ranks.

While my own motivation was always to ensure that the current leadership would mend its wounds with all elements in our conference, this whole incident has been grossly misconstrued, so much so that it brought disrepute on the Republican majority itself, at a time when the nation's attention ought to be focused on tax cuts for working families and a balanced budget, not the internal machinations of the Republican leadership.

I resigned because as a Republican, I believe we must take personal responsibility for our actions, and that our success ultimately depends upon our mutual trust and honor.