Pete Stark: “The principal issue is that a joint committee with the long record of serving on a bipartisan, bicameral nature should…”

“The principal issue is that a joint committee with the long record of serving on a bipartisan, bicameral nature should not selectively withhold information from Members. I rather suspect that the rules of the House give any Member of the House a right to go in and look at committee records. That is generally the case, and in the absence of any rules prohibiting that, it could be done. It might raise a question of personal privilege in the House. It ought not to. Regardless of who has requested the reports or regardless of what the reports will say, it does not translate into legislation. It ought not to disadvantage anyone. Much of the information that is of an exciting nature has already been made public in Forbes magazine. Whether it is accurate or not, we do not know. But for us to begin on a partisan basis to withhold information that is produced by joint committees, whether it is the Congressional Budget Office or GAO or the joint committee, I think takes us down a road that we should all be very hesitant to travel.”