BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, MAY 31, 1989) REP. JIM WRIGHT (R-TX), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I will resign as the speaker of the House effective upon the election of my successor.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After 34 years in Congress and 2 1/2 as House speaker, Jim Wright could no longer withstand the angry controversy over the ethics charges against him. The speaker talked for almost an hour to a hushed chamber. He said he had broken no rules and offered a detailed defense. Then he went on to say he would resign his congressional seat by the end of June, which means the Ethics Committee, which had so damaged him with charges of 69 rules violations would no longer have jurisdiction. For the speaker, their investigation had already created what he called an atmosphere of negative campaigning, harsh personal attacks and vengeance; and for Wright, an agonizing year.</s>WRIGHT: When vengeance becomes more desirable than vindication, all of us in both political parties must resolve to bring this period of mindless cannibalism to an end. There's been enough of it.</s>FRANKEN: Wright leaves to applause, even though he goes down in history as the first speaker of the House to resign under fire.</s>WRIGHT: God bless this institution. God bless the United States.
CNN 20: House Speaker Jim Wright Resigns, May 31, 1989