Porter Goss: “It is a sad day when a Member of Congress must sue to perform his oversight duties. It is even sadder when the majority…”

“It is a sad day when a Member of Congress must sue to perform his oversight duties. It is even sadder when the majority leadership works hard to prevent that Member from his constitutionally required oversight duties. And it is sadder still when the executive branch reportedly conspires to cover up potentially embarrassing or illegal activities and makes the legislative branch's job even tougher. Mr. Speaker, the question is simple: Will the Congress support full disclosure or will it support full coverup? Will it support the Constitution or will it support political cronyism? Are we interested in truth or would we rather dabble in hearsay? Mr. Speaker, it is a sad day in this House and in this country when Jim Leach must sue to perform his duties. Mr. Speaker, I am from the sunshine State of Florida. The public has a right to know and government in the sunshine does work. We learned that here in the House banking scandal. It was a painful time and it was only full disclosure that began to restore some public confidence and some credibility in this institution. That is what it is going to take to restore confidence in the administration, full disclosure.”