Liz Saville Roberts: “I would just simply say to my distinguished friend and colleague, and to let everybody know who is listening to this…”

“I would just simply say to my distinguished friend and colleague, and to let everybody know who is listening to this debate, it is an interesting debate; it is a unique debate. It sets a precedent that I don't agree with. But simply because we are having this discussion doesn't mean we are not friends and colleagues and trying our very best to do a job under very difficult circumstances. But we do defer--or at least I think we should defer--to the intelligence professionals here who work with this material. If they make a mistake, we are all over them. So we are at war. Let's let the Public Interest Declassification Board take a look at these reports. That was the suggestion by Senator Wyden, picked up by Senator Bond, endorsed by myself and I think by the Senator from West Virginia. That is the proper way to go about it, not in this format, when we don't even have a bill that pertains to this and where we are setting a precedent where all of a sudden somebody can say: Oh, I think we should release even though it is classified. Once we start down that road, I would say to my dear friend, we will never hear the end of it. We will have everything else declassified. We could conceivably, with all the furor in regards to the ABC documentary over the handling of 9/11, get into reports and get into Presidential findings and everything else. I just don't think that is appropriate. So there is a way to do it. Let's do it the proper way. I yield the floor.…”