Louise Slaughter: “I in no way want to impede this hearing process. Like everybody else in the country, I want to make sure that the…”

“I in no way want to impede this hearing process. Like everybody else in the country, I want to make sure that the political process in the United States is as good as it can be, but I want to speak to the committee process, if I may. Protecting the civil liberties and the civil rights of the citizens of the United States is our job. We write the laws here that people count on to do just that. Also, the importance of the committee hearing is almost a religious belief in the United States. A congressional hearing carries the weight of truth and honor with it. I served on this Committee on Government Reform and Oversight in the last term of Congress when we had the Waco hearings, and to our great surprise when we had those hearings, we found that persons who identified themselves as being with the committee were instead with the National Rifle Association, having no connection whatever with Congress. Yet they felt free and were allowed to call witnesses and ask them questions about the hearing before they came to testify. This was a terrible breach of Congressional process. Was the committee chair disturbed? Not at all. Did the Justice Dept. care. Not at all. It is only the protection of minority and majority working in concert that keeps the process honest. For the first time in the history of the House, that consultation and concurrence of the majority and minority has been breached. This is a perilous step to take.”