DeLay Tom D. - Revival! Revolution! Rebirth!: a radical call from the former majority leader of the United States House of Representatives

REVIVAL! REVOLUTION! REBIRTH!

A RADICAL CALL FROM THE FORMER MAJORITY LEADER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TOM DELAY

with

WALLACE HENLEY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T his book began with Tom DeLays compelling vision for America returning God-centeredness to the core of the Constitution, and the Constitution to the core of government, and also to see spiritual revival in the land as in the days of the Great Awakenings. Wallace Henley has long shared this vision, and we are grateful to God for allowing us to work together on this project.

We stand in amazement at the enduring truth revealed in the Bible and in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word Incarnate. The more we study biblical revelation in the context of our careers in government and public affairs, the greater our awe at its universal relevance for our times, and all seasons.

We thank our wives, Christine DeLay, and Irene Henley. They have been one with us respectively as we have walked our journeys. They have shared the high moments and borne the burden of the difficult and challenging times, always individually manifesting their personal faith, strength, courage and wisdom.

The many people who encouraged and inspired us to go forward with this book are too numerous to list here, and we are thankful for the support of each and every one of them.

We are grateful to Joseph Farah, and his visionary leadership of the wide-reaching work of WND in being a vital journalistic and literary voice in the great contemporary debate about Americas foundations.

Our gratitude also goes to Greg Johnson, our literary agent, who gave us expert guidance and stimulating encouragement throughout the development of Revival! Revolution! Rebirth!

Our appreciation goes to Nancy Tighe for her diligent work in transcribing our conversations from which this book grew. Lori Belin brought us together, and we are thankful for her own commitment to the principles at the heart of our book, and her unyielding efforts to uphold and advance them, along with her husband, Scott.

We are grateful to God for Dr. Ed Young, our Pastor at Houstons Second Baptist Church. Dr. Young is one of the prophetic leaders now within our nation. He is not afraid to link biblical truth with the social and cultural issues of our day, and brings important insight greatly needed in our murky times.

We thank Michael J. Klassen, Fernando Federico Lines, and Geoffrey Stone, whose gifts, talents, and skills provided the crucial work of bringing this book into production, marketing, and distribution.

Tom DeLay

Wallace Henley

Radical comes from the Latin word, radix, meaning roots. This book, therefore, is a summons to action by the American people that will restore the nation to its constitutional roots.

This is a call for a revolution for the Constitution,

REVIVAL! REVOLUTION! REBIRTH!

Copyright 2016 by Tom DeLay and Wallace Henley

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any meanswhether electronic, digital, mechanical, or otherwisewithout permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

World Ahead Press is a division of WND Books. The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position or WND Books.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-944212-32-2

eBook ISBN: 978-1-944212-33-9

Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

A PERSONAL WORD TO THE READER FROM TOM DELAY

I n 1996 threats sizzling against me from some of Washingtons most powerful people for more than a year, suddenly boiled over.

Republicans became the majority of both the Senate and the House of Representatives in 1994. In 1995, after we were sworn in, I was chosen majority whip. My job was to rally votes from my Republican colleagues on issues important to the partys legislative goals. I had served in a similar role in the Texas Legislature. There I learned how to count votes and mobilize members. My aggressive personality was well-suited to that job, and I enjoyed it.

A year later, in 1996, congressional Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Patrick Kennedy announced that they were coming after me. Their stated intent was to remove me from the political arena. They hit me with ethics charges in 1996 and again in 1998. Those allegations were dismissed. My political enemies, however, made another attempt at ethics charges, again dismissed. Still, they wouldnt give up and leveled a racketeering charge against me. It, too, was dismissed.

In 2002 the effort to destroy me had also been taken up by political adversaries in my home state, Texas. Ronnie Earle, the Democrat District Attorney for Travis Countyhome of Austin, the state capitalnow had me in his sights. At other times he would also attempt to take down Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and even conservative Democrats.

In 2002 Earle charged me with laundering $190,000 from a legitimate political action committee (PAC) whose mission was to get more Republicans in the Texas Legislature. That effort led to the first Republican majority in the Texas House of Representatives since Reconstruction.

In 2005 I was indicted on the money-laundering charges under a law that did not apply in Texas because it was a federal, not a state, issue. Further, the allegation against me did not meet the federal description of the violation, which forbids proceeds from criminal activity being channeled through an organization and system that cleans up the money. Not a penny of the money given and spent through the PAC came from criminal activity. The judge in whose court I would be tried could have pointed that out. Instead, in his instructions to the jury, he simply inferred that money going from one pocket to another constituted money-laundering.

The rules established by Republicans for their party members serving in Congress stipulated that any leader under indictment had to step aside temporarily. In September 2005, I relinquished my role as majority leader. By January 2006, I came to the hard realization that this was not going to work. The leadership void was creating chaos in the Republican congressional conference. While an acting majority leader was substituting in my position, in point of fact there was no majority leader. I decided the best way to clear up the confusion was to resign altogether as majority leader, and I did. A leadership race ensued, and John Boehner won in February 2006.

Meanwhile, I was on the ballot in my Texas district for re-election. I knew that if I were sent back to Congress I would not be able to serve my constituents effectively. I would be a backbencher, my influence reduced dramatically. Most importantly, I needed to concentrate on my family and deal with the legal challenges before me. I sought to get off the ballot, but the Democrats sued to keep me on and won. I concluded the only way out of this morass was to resign Congress altogether. On April 4, 2006, I announced that I was retiring from the House of Representatives: After many weeks of personal, prayerful thinking and analysis, I have come to the conclusion that it is time to close this public service chapter of my life I have no regrets today and no doubts.

The legal battle extended through eight years, and in 2010 I was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, plus probation. I appealed the trial courts decision. Ultimately, the appellate court ruled that the evidence presented by the prosecutor was legally insufficient to sustain the conviction, and the trial courts decision was overturned.