Political Quotes

“I thank the ranking member for yielding. This is a very unfortunate bill, and I think this side of the aisle has sufficiently laid out abundant reasons why it should be sent to the committee and fixed. The intelligence community is too important to our national security to allow a bill with as many concerns as this one to pass. However, I am here also to discuss what I see as a fatal flaw in the way information is disseminated to Members of the House who are not committee members. Nothing is more critical to the role each of us plays in representing our districts and this country than for us to have every relevant piece of information available to us prior to casting an important vote-- certainly prior to casting a vote on one updating the authorizations for the way our government gathers intelligence. Yet many Members of this House have been denied access to key pieces of information simply by virtue of the fact that they do not sit on the Intelligence Committee. I recognize that membership on any given committee in this Chamber means that one is given access to matters in a special capacity. I respect that. I would even say that dividing up responsibilities is critical in achieving everything in a body as large as this one, but not being a member of the committee should not translate into having access to nothing that falls under the jurisdiction of this committee.…”