Insisting Department of Justice Comply with Requests and Subpoenas
Floor Speech
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Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, I will applaud former Speaker Pelosi for her consistency. She seems to have uniformly supported the executive branch ignoring subpoenas and perhaps destroying evidence in failing to comply with the rule of the House, with a subpoena being issued by the House, with the important precedent of the Constitution.
So this really isn't about the Russia investigation or about the specifics of this case. So, frankly, I find it appalling that Attorney General Sessions would ignore these activities in the Department of Justice. The reality is this is a question of, Shall the executive branch comply with a subpoena from the legislative branch?
We don't know what the contents are because they are redacted and they are being withheld. This has gone on for a long time. And if we are to keep our Republic, the principle has to be resolved to where the legislative branch, being coequal, very much shall have access to this information--and not just a privileged few, not just a few who keep it withheld from the rest of the body, but the whole body.
Since last year, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has investigated potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by the Department of Justice and our intelligence community. Previously, our colleague, Mr. Schiff, was a strong supporter for FISA reform and proposed numerous bills. So that is where our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are not consistent.
FISA has been abused. We have seen one of the most blatant examples of that with the activities and things that have already been made public, which has led to this line of inquiry. Americans should be concerned that the Federal Government may abuse its capacity to gather foreign intelligence by spying on our fellow Americans. Without serious reforms to FISA, the Fourth Amendment will exist as nothing more than a distant memory or a notation with an asterisk ``except in these cases.''
This resolution insists that the Department of Justice fully comply with requests, including subpoenas, of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Judiciary Committees relating to potential violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Unless we support and defend our Constitution, we will not keep our Republic, we will further embolden and empower the executive branch, and we will weaken our country. This bill will help reform FISA and help defend our Constitution.
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