Frank Pallone: “it has almost been 2 weeks since we first learned Karl Rove leaked the identity of Valerie Plame to a reporter at Time…”

“it has almost been 2 weeks since we first learned Karl Rove leaked the identity of Valerie Plame to a reporter at Time, and then confirmed the identity for Bob Novak. Yesterday we learned that a State Department document including the information about Plame's CIA ties also included a giant ``S'' on it, meaning that the information was secret. For 2 weeks now, some Republicans have said that Rove did nothing wrong because the information leaked to the reporters was not confidential. Well, now we know that is simply not true and the giant ``S'' on the State Department document proves it. It is now clear the information Rove leaked to the reporters was secret and should not have been shared. When Rove became Bush's right-hand man, he signed a classified information nondisclosure agreement. In that agreement he vowed to keep quiet about intelligence information until he could confirm that it was not classified. Mr. Speaker, at the very least President Bush should revoke Karl Rove's security clearance. Rove has clearly shown that he cannot be trusted, and yet he continues to have access to information critical to our national security. I really think it is time for the President to fire Karl Rove. ____________________”