Liz Saville Roberts: “I rise today with some degree of reluctance, I might say, to discuss the apparent disagreement and the difference of…”

“I rise today with some degree of reluctance, I might say, to discuss the apparent disagreement and the difference of opinion within the Select Committee on Intelligence with regard to staffing. This is the kind of disagreement that is obviously taking place in many of the committees in the Senate. We have heard a lot about this. We probably heard too much about it, to the point this whole business is now at the leadership level and is holding up the appointment of committee chairmen, not to mention the business of the Senate. This is not only regrettable but, as this drags on, I think this really represents the kind of sandbox silliness--that is my term-- that prompts folks outside the beltway to wonder if this body is the Senate or a partisan romper room. Given the importance of our Select Committee on Intelligence and our obligations and our responsibilities during this time of vital national security threat--and I am talking about the war on terrorism, I am talking about Iraq, I am talking about North Korea, not to mention any number of other national security threats by state and nonstate terrorists--and given the committee's 26 years of history of bipartisanship--that means no majority, no minority, no Republican, no Democrat approach or viewpoint--we should not be having this dispute.”