David Skaggs: “Mr. Speaker, we should be concerned here today, as well, with the first amendment's guarantee of the rights of all…”

“Mr. Speaker, we should be concerned here today, as well, with the first amendment's guarantee of the rights of all Americans to petition their government. We ought to welcome their participation in our own committee work. But what are we doing in these rules? We are creating a new and absurd barrier to public participation in House hearings by saying that any nongovernmental witness testifying in committee will have to file, as a precondition, a full report of all contracts, subcontracts, grants, subgrants received by that individual, his organization, or anyone he is representing. What in the world are we trying to do here? I think erect a barrier a la the old Istook amendment to discourage and intimidate citizens from around the country in coming to talk to us about the public's business. What will this mean? What unworkable prospect can we look forward to under this crazy proposal? Well, the head of the Farm Bureau, wanting to testify about agricultural policy, will have to disclose every Federal agricultural aid, grant, or contract received by every member of the Farm Bureau. That is nuts.…”