Providing for Adoption of H. Res. 979, Recommending Miers and Bolten be found in Contempt of Congress, and Adoption of H. Res. 980, Authorizing Committee on the Judiciary to Initiate or Intervene in Judicial Proceedings to Enforce Certain Subpoenas

Floor Speech

Providing for Adoption of H. Res. 979, Recommending that Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten be found in Contempt of Congress, and Adoption of H. Res. 980, Authorizing Committee on the Judiciary to Initiate or Intervene in Judicial Proceedings to Enforce Certain Subpoenas

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Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, Speaker Pelosi is absolutely right, this is a very, very sad day for all of us. We just memorialized our colleague, Tom Lantos, and we have come back today to deal with an issue which I believe is one that creates the potential to undermine the power of the first branch of government.

Now, as has been said, if we looked at the potential court challenge that we can see, this notion that has been put forward by our former colleague, Mr. Edwards, that we are, in fact, a separate, independent, and equal branch of government could be thrown out the window.

The other thing that's very sad about today, Madam Speaker, is the fact that we are here with an absolutely unprecedented rule. Never before in the history of the Republic has there been such a rule. This rule actually undermines the deliberative nature of the people's House. What we're doing is we are saying that there will be no debate whatsoever, no debate whatsoever on these very important two contempt resolutions, no debate whatsoever. When this rule is adopted, we will see those two measures hereby adopted, meaning that there will be no chance for us to, as a House, have the kind of debate that we did for an hour upstairs in the Rules Committee. And so, we're throwing out the window the notion of participation in a free and open debate.

And Madam Speaker, the other thing that is very sad about today is that, while we were promised 1 year ago last month a new direction for America, a new era of openness, an opportunity for free-flowing debate, we will, with passage of this resolution, be on the brink of seeing the 110th Congress, and I will say to the distinguished chair of the Committee on Rules, since she is presiding over this, Madam Speaker, we will have, this Congress, adopted more closed rules than any Congress in the history of the Republic.

I urge a ``no'' vote on this rule. And I urge strong support for the resolution which will allow us to finally bring about modernization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

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