Tim Ryan: “I think my colleague is exactly right. What happened here today, H. Res. 437, is a tragedy. What happened right here on…”

“I think my colleague is exactly right. What happened here today, H. Res. 437, is a tragedy. What happened right here on this floor today is a tragedy for the exact reason the gentleman just mentioned. Now, for those people who are at home and who may not completely understand the whole situation, this body is run by the majority party, which is the Republican Party. And the majority party appoints to the committees members to the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Appropriations, the House Homeland Security Committee, the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs, and all these different committees and subcommittees. The majority appoints more people to the committee than the minority, so they basically control the committee process in the House of Representatives. Now, some committees have subpoena powers and they can subpoena witnesses. But they will only subpoena witnesses that the majority party wants to subpoena. If the minority party would want to subpoena somebody, they could not because they could not get the power out of the committee without majority party votes. So the majority rules. What is happening in this Congress and in the House and in the Senate is that the Republican Party controls both Chambers. So the Democrats in the minority have no subpoena power.…”