Charles Skelton: “I have a concern, it is a deep concern, dealing with the conference between the House and the Senate on the defense…”

“I have a concern, it is a deep concern, dealing with the conference between the House and the Senate on the defense bill. You see, immediately upon passage of the bill in the Senate, the conferees were appointed. We passed our bill here in the House a good number of months ago, and, as of yet, we have had no official conferees appointed to meet with the Senate. Despite that, we are holding informal panel discussions with the Senate trying to resolve a number of issues, but it would certainly help for us to be legal and have the conferees appointed so we can stand in the shoes of the House of Representatives properly. I have had no explanation from anyone regarding this. It is something I do not understand, and I am not by myself. Others do not understand it. I would like very much for the appointment of the conferees to come just as quick as possible, so we can officially act and officially make decisions on behalf of the House regarding national security.”