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Retired Rep. Bill Zeliff, who probed Waco siege, dies at 85

Zeliff, Bill
C-Span.org
Former U.S. Rep. Bill Zeliff, R-N.H., during a hearing in 1996.

The former U.S. Representative from Jackson, N.H., served in Congress from 1991 to 1997.

Retired U.S. Rep. Bill Zeliff has died at age 85 after a career in which he
helped lead the investigation of the disastrous siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Texas in 1993.

A funeral home and Zeliff's wife say the Republican died Monday in Florida after declining health.

Zeliff was co-chair in 1995 of the congressional panel investigating the siege that led to the deaths of cult leader David Koresh and nearly 80 followers.

Zeliff suggested that then-President Bill Clinton had made the decision to mount the tear gas attack that preceded the deaths.

Attorney General Janet Reno insisted it was her decision.

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