Neil Abercrombie: “what we have attempted to do over these weeks is to bring the hammer of truth down on the anvil of inquiry, and that is…”

“what we have attempted to do over these weeks is to bring the hammer of truth down on the anvil of inquiry, and that is the object of these discussions. People have sometimes asked me, and I know they have asked other Members, why is it that we have these sessions late at night during what is called Special Orders. And because we are used to it, we may take it for granted that everyone knows what that is. The people who may be perusing through the various channels on their television set may come upon C-SPAN, and they see the regular order of business is concluded for the day, and now we are in Special Orders. What that means is in this people's House, membership of which is restricted, restricted to those who have been elected, not appointed, elected by their constituents across this country, the faith and trust of their constituents have put all of us on this floor. We are here under Special Orders because this is our opportunity to speak to our colleagues and to the Nation about those matters which we consider most important and which we may not have had the opportunity during the regular course of business to discuss at length or in-depth.”