Norma Torres: “Although I may be the newest member of the Rules Committee, I know that it is our job to discuss how our committees come…”

“Although I may be the newest member of the Rules Committee, I know that it is our job to discuss how our committees come up with their legislation and, by extension, how the House should consider these bills in a manner that is orderly and respectful. Unfortunately, we were not given that opportunity yesterday. I had questions for the Intelligence Committee chairman--tough questions, maybe, but fair questions. Questions like: How do we prevent witnesses from lying in our committees? Questions like: How did the committee come up with their findings on the Russian meddling that differ so much from every other intelligence agency? I had offered an amendment to this bill to give the House the opportunity to vote on the Senate Intelligence Committee's Russia findings, and I wanted to ask the chairman if he felt that the House was prepared to vote on such an amendment; and, if not, why not. A tough question, maybe, but a fair question. However, I never got the opportunity to ask that--any of that. Instead, I was shouted down by a male colleague from across the dais and cut off abruptly before I could even finish the first question. It was incredibly disrespectful and a far cry from the decorum that we should uphold as members of the powerful Rules Committee and Congress. Never before had a member of the committee majority or minority been cut off from active questioning. That is unprecedented.…”