Bob Barr: “I pause to let the smoke screen clear for just a moment so we can see what is really at stake here, Mr. Speaker, and I…”

“I pause to let the smoke screen clear for just a moment so we can see what is really at stake here, Mr. Speaker, and I suppose, just as importantly, what this proposed rule change is not about. This rule change, despite the smoke screen thrown up by its opponents, is not about somebody who may have committed suicide two generations ago, as tragic as I am sure that is. This is not, Mr. Speaker, about an effort to shield Members of Congress. It is not a question about taking anybody's rights away. As we let the smoke screen clear, Mr. Speaker, what we see is a very simple rule change that is at the heart of both common sense and the way that Congress operates and was envisaged to operate by our Founding Fathers. For one only has to look in Jefferson's Manual, Mr. Speaker, in the rules of this House, going back over 200 years, to see a common underpinning of openness in the proceedings of this great body. And it is only from time to time when there is perceived an overriding need to place limitation on that openness that that great principle envisaged by our Founding Fathers of openness and public access to all that we do should be entertained. The rule before us today is very simple. It simply states that no subpoenaed witness can hold the Congress hostage and can prevent the American people from knowing what it is pursuant to the people's business that they are testifying about. That is all it does.…”