Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I opposed similar legislation in a markup yesterday, and I cannot support it today. My concerns are not with the exceptional qualifications and decades of honorable service of General Mattis, but I am opposed to a process that has made this House irrelevant. We have an obligation under the law to review this nomination based on General Mattis' military service, a law that codified the principle of civilian control of the military. General Mattis agreed, and was even eager, according to the chairman, to speak before the Armed Services Committee. The people have the right to know that the Presidential transition team blocked him from appearing. The American people, frankly, don't care what unelected members of the transition team think and would much rather hear from General Mattis on why we in the House should grant this exception to law. His testimony would be in all of our best interest. General Mattis could certainly start the new relationship that he has with the House Armed Services Committee, with our committee, through a thoughtful and a productive conversation on the issues. Today we are casting off our duty and agreeing to be irrelevant. To accept this legislation without making the appropriate changes, without fully participating in this legislative process, under a closed rule, we are doing nothing to safeguard civilian control of our military. In fact, we are accepting poorly drafted language, and we are not performing proper oversight.…”