Wayne Gilchrest: “I thank Mr. Israel for yielding, and this evening we are here as Members of Congress. Mr. Israel from New York, Mr.…”

“I thank Mr. Israel for yielding, and this evening we are here as Members of Congress. Mr. Israel from New York, Mr. Lampson from Texas, Mr. Dent from Pennsylvania, myself from Maryland and other Members will be here shortly from the various corners of this country, and we're here because we know that tonight a young American soldier may be on patrol somewhere in Iraq and there may be a landmine that he will run over. There will be Iraqi children that may get caught in the terrible crossfire. There may be Iraqi students on their way to a school or university that may be caught in a horrific explosion from a suicide bomber. Those kinds of things are unfolding in Afghanistan and, to some extent, those kinds of things are unfolding throughout the very difficult places in the world. This institution, the House of Representatives, has a history of integrity. This Nation is based on the philosophy of integrity, and American citizens, the broad breadth of humans across the globe have, for centuries, had an assumption that this institution was competent, informed and rested on that philosophy of integrity that buttressed the concept of freedom and justice and dignity. This cannot happen with a partisan divide. This cannot happen with people talking about the Democrats or the Republicans. We are not Democrats. We're not Republicans.”