On the recordJuly 31, 2013
I just want to say first of all that I associate myself with the words of the gentlelady from the District of Columbia. I think she said it quite well. Mr. Speaker, we must be about the business of guarding this thing we call the Constitution. We are here only for a moment--only for a moment--and in that moment we have already been given a document by which we should govern ourselves. It has been interpreted by courts over and over again, and one of the things that has stood the test of time is due process. That very due process, I have said many a time, has allowed me to be a Member of this Congress of the United States and so many others who would have never had an opportunity. And so no matter when we are here, no matter what time we are here for, we must guard it. {time} 1430 Mr. Lynch was very clear when he talked about how we are in a situation where we fire somebody first, and then suddenly we say, okay, we're going to give them some due process. Going back to Ms. Norton, due process comes before the firing. That's the way it's supposed to be. And we all care about every employee. We care about how every American is treated, and that's what this argument is all about-- fairness. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
