On the recordJuly 21, 2011
I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I don't know about Roman law, and I'm a little shaky on English law as well, but I will tell you that it doesn't violate any American laws that I'm aware of. If it did, they would be subject to all kinds of legal proceedings against them. I understand fully well that some Members didn't like voting for this. They don't like the idea of people other than Members of Congress looking at anything we do. I understand that. And there was a great attempt to try to balance that fear with a movement forward, which is what we did. I'd like to point out very clearly that when the Congress changed from Democrat to Republican, there was no attempt by anybody that I'm aware of to change one aspect of this rule, not one aspect. That was the appropriate time. Had someone done it, I would have been happy to work with them. I've expressed my concerns here. I've expressed them to the OCE. I've expressed them to other Members. I share some of these concerns. But I don't think it's an appropriate thing to simply wheel the old-fashioned political tool of a big, heavy draconian weapon and try to slash their budget and think that you're going to change it. You're not. And you will be perceived, this House will be perceived by the general public for what this is: simply an attempt to roll back our progress on policing our own activities.…
