Political Quotes

“I stand in whole support of what Chairman Thornberry is proposing. Section 101 of the National Security Act of 1947 says: ``The function of the Council shall be to advise the President . . . '' Obviously, we want the President to get the best advice possible, but, historically, the National Security Act designated--they had between 50 and 60 people between the 1960s and the mid 1990s. But now it has grown to hundreds of people. We are talking about literally 400 people, by some counts, and we have got an NSC that is now not necessarily accountable. I would like to see the Senate confirmation if it moves about 100. What we see is the NSC is not only engaging in direction on the field, but also engaging in public relations battles and doing things well outside, I think, the scope that was originally put forward. Mr. Chairman, today we had a hearing. We had called Ben Rhodes to come testify to this hearing. But then, claiming executive privilege, Neil Eggleston, the General Counsel, said this person could not come. Ben Rhodes goes and talks to the media, he talks to his echo chamber. Ben Rhodes will go out and do public speaking. He will do everything except come testify in front of Congress, and then hides behind this shield that does not allow for openness and transparency. We want an NSC that helps make policy and direct operations and should be publicly accountable, if that is what they are going to be doing. The President has a choice.…”