HOUSTON -- Protesters greeted Vice President Dick Cheney as he stopped in Houston Monday to speak at a campaign fundraiser for embattled U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay.

The protesters held signs reading "The GOP is in an ethics free-fall" and chanted "Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Dick Cheney Has To Go."

Inside the private fundraiser, Cheney spoke to more than 300 Republican supporters who paid anywhere from $500 to $4,200 to attend.

Neither Cheney nor DeLay spoke to the media. But several local GOP leaders told reporters Cheney expressed his support of DeLay during a 15-minute speech.

DeLay is the Sugar Land Republican who was indicted in a campaign finance investigation. He had to step down as majority leader.

The media was not allowed to attend the event and the nearly 200 protesters were kept several hundred feet away from the hotel where it was held.