Political Quotes

“Let me reclaim the time. The response or lack of response from the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee explains why we are in the Chamber today. There are two responsibilities of this Intelligence Committee: Not only to determine whether the intelligence agencies did their job but whether or not the information they generated was correctly portrayed by the administration. I have just asked the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee directly whether this investigation will go into the use of intelligence information by the administration, and you heard his response: Only after we have completed the first round of inquiry about intelligence agencies would we consider asking the question whether anyone in the administration exerted influence on intelligence agencies or mischaracterized the information coming from those agencies. That was the direct question. There was an opportunity for the chairman of the committee to say point blank that we will allow this investigation to take its normal course, and he deferred. He said we will wait to a later time. That, I believe, is the source of frustration within this committee. Our ranking member on this committee, Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, has shown the patience of Job. He has tried literally for months to encourage and convince the Republican majority on this committee to have a full and complete investigation. That is what the American people deserve. That is what this committee should do.”