Statement by Chairman Pete Hoekstra Good morning. The subject of today's hearing is the financial affairs of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Parts of this unfortunate story we already know -- through this Subcommittee's hearings last October, through articles in the press, and through the findings of the Election Officer and the proceedings of the court in the Southern District of New York. We know that despite seven years of federal supervision and $20 million dollars of taxpayers' money, the IBT election of 1996 was fatally flawed. It failed, and must be re-done this year. We now know - in at least some detail -- that President Ron Carey's effort to win reelection was marred by illegal financial dealings, and that the IBT's own funds were secretly funneled into the Carey campaign through various laundering schemes. And we know that Carey's campaign consultant wrote a memo to Mr. Carey naming dozens of people at IBT headquarters who worked fulltime on getting Carey reelected while they were on the International's payroll. That, too, was illegal. The 1996 election, however, is not the focus of this Subcommittee's investigation. Our focus is larger in scope. As we have made clear to those we have been forced to subpoena for documents, this is a permanent, standing Subcommittee of the House, with broad oversight powers and responsibilities. Over the next months, we will be looking at three "money trails" -- the $20 million spent by the federal government to finance the cost of the 1996 election, and election. the illegal swap schemes used to finance the Carey campaign for re We start this morning by looking at the finances of the Teamsters. The failed election was not an isolated event. Rather, it was the culmination of at least four years of Ron Carey's arrogance and abuse of power, his disregard for the rank and file members and his lack of respect for legal safeguards intended to reform the union as a democratic institution for the rank and file. We will see today that irregularities in IBT finances did not begin with the '96 election. Rather, certain Teamsters officials became alarmed in early 1993 that |