Relating to Consideration of House Report 112-546 and Accompanying Resolution, and Providing for Consideration of House Resolution 706, Authorizing Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to Initiate or Intervene in Judicial Proceedings to Enforce Certain Subpoenas

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I thank the gentleman for the time.

Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that my friends on the left need some clarification on why we are here this afternoon. This is not a good day for America, and it is certainly still not a good day for the Terry family.

My friends on the left continue to talk about this as if it were a witch hunt--a witch hunt. We have a slain Border Patrol agent, and my friends on the left want to politicize this by talking about a witch hunt when in fact we all know that this, Mr. Speaker, is about justice. This is about justice.

My friend on the left just said that we Republicans refuse to hear ``yes,'' we refuse to accept ``yes'' as an answer. Well, Mr. Speaker, we want a ``yes'' for Kent Terry, we want a ``yes'' for Josephine Terry, the parents of Brian Terry. We want a ``yes'' for the American people. We want a ``yes'' as it relates to the integrity of the process, and we want a ``yes'' for justice. And, Mr. Speaker, my friends on the left continue to consistently say ``no.''

We are here, Mr. Speaker, for only two reasons. The first is because United States Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry is dead because of a Federal Government operation that allowed American guns to be walked across the border in the hands of drug lords and cartels. We are here today, Mr. Speaker, because the Department of Justice; the Attorney General, Eric Holder; and now the President refuse to comply with congressional subpoenas that will give us clarity on these questions, give us clear answers for the Terry family and for the American people.

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Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. We have been trying for 18 long months to get to the bottom of this issue, and yet we are being stonewalled.

Yes, we hear that the Federal Government has provided 7,000-plus pages; but, Mr. Speaker, there are over 100,000 pages that we have requested. We are talking about a period from February 4, 2011, to December 2011, where we were given false information. It is our responsibility, it is our duty to find the truth for the American people and the Terry family.

Let me close, Mr. Speaker, by simply saying, how are we supposed to protect and ensure the safety of our Border Patrol agents in the future if we do not know who allowed the guns to walk across the border? How are we supposed to give Brian Terry's family any sense of closure, Mr. Speaker? This is why we have no choice but to be here today. The refusal of the Attorney General to provide answers regarding Brian Terry's death leaves us no choice but to be here today.

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