Providing for Consideration of H.R. Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019
Floor Speech
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Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, although I may be the newest member of the Rules Committee, I know that it is our job to discuss how our committees come up with their legislation and, by extension, how the House should consider these bills in a manner that is orderly and respectful. Unfortunately, we were not given that opportunity yesterday.
I had questions for the Intelligence Committee chairman--tough questions, maybe, but fair questions. Questions like: How do we prevent witnesses from lying in our committees? Questions like: How did the committee come up with their findings on the Russian meddling that differ so much from every other intelligence agency?
I had offered an amendment to this bill to give the House the opportunity to vote on the Senate Intelligence Committee's Russia findings, and I wanted to ask the chairman if he felt that the House was prepared to vote on such an amendment; and, if not, why not. A tough question, maybe, but a fair question.
However, I never got the opportunity to ask that--any of that. Instead, I was shouted down by a male colleague from across the dais and cut off abruptly before I could even finish the first question. It was incredibly disrespectful and a far cry from the decorum that we should uphold as members of the powerful Rules Committee and Congress.
Never before had a member of the committee majority or minority been cut off from active questioning. That is unprecedented. As a fact, I have observed male colleagues talk to each other and ask each other to yield time to each other; but you see, as the only female Latina in that committee, that respect was not extended to me.
I am concerned, Mr. Speaker, what this means for our committee and this Congress. What is more troubling to me is that this is the second time a male colleague has yelled at me from the other side of the dais. This is not to be tolerated--not by me, and not by any Member of Congress.
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Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, if our committee is going to function like this moving forward, it will be the Rules Committee in name only. Regular order will be a thing of the past.
Bills are already developed by the majority behind closed doors. The majority already blocks every single amendment. Now we will not be allowed to even speak. The majority has already turned this Congress into the most closed Congress in history. Now they are going to close off important debates in committee, and that is outrageous.
I take my work on the Rules Committee very seriously. As a matter of fact, the last time this happened, I sat there, patiently, quietly, listening to the debate, although I completely disagreed with what my colleagues were saying. I was respectful to them, and I waited for my turn to speak.
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Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I hope that we can all continue to uphold that standard of mutual respect for not just the male members of our committee, but to extend that respect to the females of that committee.
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