Porter Goss

I am honored to be in the somewhat unique position of serving the House and my constituents as a member of the Committee on Rules and as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I certainly feel in very good…

Again, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I believe that the question of declassification includes the question of classification, because I think there is great abuse there, as the gentleman has heard me say. I believe this is…

I would assure the gentlewoman from California that it is the intent of the committee that the legislative history of this provision as it was developed in the debate in 1995 is applicable to the exercise of this authority. Indeed, the…

I rise in support of what I think is a very fair rule for a very important subject that I think in some ways is a bellwether to be used again and again and again as a model in this controversy we have between private property rights and…

I originally rose in opposition to the Waters amendment, but now I am rising in support of my substitute amendment. I think it is very important that we understand here that this is not a new subject and that there are unclassified…

I would be happy to accept the amendment, of course, because I understand it was inadvertently left out, and it is not a new issue; it is one that I have supported before. I just want to make sure the gentleman is entirely clear that…

I thank the gentleman, but here on the floor, in the people's House, for the people of the United States who pay the taxes that constitute this secret budget, we cannot know how much a 5-percent cut constitutes, so we cannot know whether…

I would respond, if the gentlewoman will yield, that it is very much my intention to make sure that where taxpayers' dollars are used there is an appropriate accounting; if there is anything classified that justifies classification, we…

I quite agree. The gentlewoman from California said one of the worst kept secrets in Washington is the intelligence budget. One of the worst kept secrets in Washington is, what is the intelligence part of the intelligence budget? What is…

I obviously rise in strong support of this fair and I think very appropriate rule for what we are about, which permits consideration of 2 important measures, the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, in fact probably one of the…

My view is based on the reports I have. We have three facts. One is that the administration has in fact relaxed controls twice. Where they have relaxed those controls in the case of the Russians, they have given the Russians a capability…

Attention turns to Aristide as the Haitian Government crumbles,'' says the news report this weekend. ``An immense ambition for power'' is responsible for insecurity and disorder in the Capital, Port-au-Prince. This is how one-time…

Mr. Speaker, the stars and stripes is certainly one of our greatest and most enduring monuments. It may be cloth, but it lasts longer than the monuments of steel, the monuments of cement, and the other monuments that we have made, because…

is all quiet on the southern front? No, not really. Despite the resounding silence from the press and the White House on the current situation in our neighboring country Haiti, things are far from quiet. In fact, things are so bad that the…

since I spoke about Haiti at morning business early today, I have seen still more evidence to suggest that there is a de facto strong man regime being run in Haiti by former President Aristide, one that functions contrary to and does…

during the considering by the Committee on House International Relations of this bill, language was adopted which would have significant and unfortunate consequences for the future of the Office of Inspector General at the State…

We are not talking about due process. We are talking about way beyond due process here. Due process is guaranteed. This is not an issue of due process. This is a provision of special privilege for a narrow group of government employees…

In fact, all the individual has to do is ask. They have the right to ask and they have the right to get the right answer, but remember that we are talking about investigations here. We are not talking about people who are arrested. There…

Teddy Roosevelt named Pelican Island, FL as the first United States wildlife refuge. In that tradition, I'm proud that Florida's fourteenth Congressional district boasts four wildlife refuges, including the J.N. ``Ding'' Darling refuge on…

this rule is very straightforward and simple. As has actually just been discussed in the extended 1-minute we just had, it waves clause 4(b) of rule XI, which requires a two-thirds vote to consider a rule on the same day it is reported…

But tomorrow is coming. Tomorrow, May 9, is Tax Freedom Day, the day that working Americans can finally begin to keep the money they earn rather than paying it to the Government in taxes. The fact is the tax burden most Americans face has…

last week four Cabinet-level members of the Clinton administration and the rest of the Medicare trustees released their annual report on the future of the Medicare Program, something of great interest to a great many Americans, and…

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate and I rise in strong support of this wide-open rule providing for consideration of H.R. 400. This open rule will allow for full debate on this very complex and controversial measure. Mr. Speaker, the objective of…

in the early morning of April 9, a large group of United States-trained Haitian National Police forcefully entered and illegally searched the family home of a longtime employee of the International Republican Institute, which is an adjunct…

A wise man once said: Four things come not back: The spoken word, the sped arrow, time passed, and the neglected opportunity. As I reviewed the observer reports from this weekend's elections in Haiti, this aphorism came to mind. We all…