Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose this amendment. I want to deal just for a moment, though, with some of the accusations that have surrounded this proposal and others like it. In fact, the House Oversight Committee conducted an investigation concerning allegations that Homeland Security improperly politicized the Freedom of Information Act process by allowing political appointees to review documents before they were released to the public. The committee's lengthy investigation and a corresponding review by the inspector general found no evidence that the documents were edited, prior to release, for political reasons. According to the IG, ``During our review, we learned that the Office of the Secretary was involved in examining several hundred FOIA requests prior to disclosure. This process was created so the Department would be aware of certain FOIA requests that it deemed to be significant. After reviewing information and interviewing FOIA experts, we determined that the significant request review process of DHS did not prohibit the eventual release of information.'' Now, to be clear, both the IG and the committee found the process to be inefficient and cumbersome. But I understand from the committee that it has since been modified to address these concerns. Now, on the amendment, I think it's a bad idea and perhaps counterproductive. It could lead to the exact opposite of the gentleman's intended result. Let me explain what I mean.…”