Liz Saville Roberts: “I guess we started up a fuss by talking about this, which I can understand. Let me go back to sort of remind anyone that…”

“I guess we started up a fuss by talking about this, which I can understand. Let me go back to sort of remind anyone that is listening that on-demand sequential referral, as referred to in the Bayh amendment, has had a chilling effect on the introduction of legislative initiatives by the Intelligence Committee. Why is that important? It is because the joint inquiry task force investigating September 11, it is because the 511-page report on WMD, intelligence on whether there were WMD in Iraq, and the 9/11 Commission's report had this unique idea, and the unique idea was that the Select Committee on Intelligence should be granted at least enabling power, be empowered to be the oversight committee that has independence and leadership and clout and that we do not today. One of the obstacles is this on-demand sequential referral. Every other committee in the Congress can ask for sequential referral, but they do it by unanimous consent or they ask the leadership. There is nothing wrong with that. But on-demand sequential referral from the very committees that we have two members on the Intelligence Committee representing--Judiciary, Appropriations, Armed Services, and Foreign Relations? They are represented. And as I have indicated, legislative initiatives that we have end up on the cutting-room floor. It is a very fractionalized process, both from the Armed Services Committee and the Appropriations Committee.”