Neil Abercrombie: “I do not want to raise a new issue, Madam Speaker, but I do want to reiterate the idea of inquiry and how important that…”

“I do not want to raise a new issue, Madam Speaker, but I do want to reiterate the idea of inquiry and how important that is. Because what we are doing can easily be dismissed by those who want to color it with a brush that has politics all over it, and that is not what this is about. It is not about politics in the sense that we are trying to make some particularly partisan point. I notice in the photographs coming from the rehabilitation wards right here in Washington, DC that the young men and women who have been grievously wounded are not identified as Republicans and Democrats or supporters of a particular policy or not. These are the people that have had to pay the price for other people's arrogance. These are the people that have had to pay the real price. We are not paying any price here. We all know that someone else will occupy these slots one day. I learned that the first time I was elected when I went to the office to which I was assigned and I realized they slid the names off the door. They were not screwed on, painted on; they came right off the door. We occupy that only so long as we have the faith and trust of the people of this country. That is what is at stake here. That is what this inquiry is all about. Is our faith and trust being played fast and loose with? That is the issue that is involved. That is why I want to say that as far as I am concerned, we are going to continue these inquiries.…”