Keith Ellison: “Well, my colleagues, let me thank you again for this excellent dialogue. We have to, as the difference makers in this…”

“Well, my colleagues, let me thank you again for this excellent dialogue. We have to, as the difference makers in this 110th Congress, tell the people what's going on, what we're here for, and to reclaim the Congress as a co-equal branch of government articulated in article I, a co-equal branch of government that resides and has all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in the Congress of the United States and shall consist of the Senate and the House of Representatives. And so as I heard my colleague, Mr. John Hall, articulate his trip to Iraq, I was forced to reflect upon my own. And I didn't go there out of an idle curiosity seeker, a person trying to go on an interesting trip, but as somebody who is going to be called upon to execute a vote, to push a button, red or green or otherwise, as to monies that will be sent forth and as to other business that will be happening in Iraq. That's our job, we claim it, we do not abdicate it, and it would be wrong and a dereliction of our duty to do otherwise.”