Henry Waxman: “I am going to speak more on this bill when we get into the general debate, but I did want to take this opportunity to…”

“I am going to speak more on this bill when we get into the general debate, but I did want to take this opportunity to clarify the record. The GPRA legislation, the underlying bill that we are considering today, did pass the House by a bipartisan majority. It was overwhelmingly approved. The gentleman from California (Mr. Horn) has made that statement. But he and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) have both told us that we cannot now apply the same standards to the Congress because, one, it is not within the jurisdiction, the House rules would prevent it, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. These are excuses. They are the kind of excuses that I am surprised to hear from the other side. Because one of the things the Republicans did, for which they deserve a great deal of credit, is when we organized the Congress in 1995, they said that the rules that are going to apply to everyone else should also apply to the Congress. It was a reform that was long overdue. We all supported it. I was even amazed why we had not thought of it earlier. But the fact of the matter is, it made sense. But now we are hearing excuses about why we cannot have the same rules that this legislation sets up for the executive branch apply to the Congress. There is no reason for it. The House rules do not prevent it. It is not unprecedented.”