House Proceeding 02-25-10 on Feb 25th, 2010 :: 1:47:35 to 1:50:40
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1:47:31 to 1:47:51( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: have been so closed in sharing that information with the american public and the families. with that i'd like to reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. reyes: i rise to claim the time in opposition even though i'm not opposed to it. the chair: the gentleman recognized, without objection. mr. reyes: with that i would

1:47:35 to 1:50:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jane Harman

1:47:52 to 1:48:13( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: yield to my friend, ms. harman from calirnia, such time as she may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for such time as she may consume. ms. harman: i recognize the chairman for yielding and surely hope he will accept this amendment. i recall during my years as ranking member on the committee when we were in, quote, briefed on this incident. i am very disappointed by the

1:48:14 to 1:48:34( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: way it was handled and i personally think the gentleman om michigan is correct and i want to applaud what he's doing. i also want as we debate this bill to absolute against the thousands -- salute against the thousands of patriotic women and men who are serving in our intelligence community around the as i so often say, a grateful

1:48:35 to 1:48:55( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: nation salutes them and thanks them for their efforts to keep us safe and our nation also remembers and honors those who have lost their lives, most recently at forward operating base chapman in afghanistan. madam speaker, in addition to this excellent amendment, i applaud the underlying bill's provisions to reform the way

1:48:56 to 1:49:16( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: congress is notified of sensitive covert programs. briefings that for too long were limited to the so-called gang eight. during my years as ranking member it was clear that effective oversight required providing the entire committee with information previously limited to its leadership alone. and so this bill rightly provided for -- provides for

1:49:17 to 1:49:38( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: full committee notice of gang for eight meetings, a record of those briefings, something we sorely lack, and it entitles the full committee to receive the full briefings from the gang of eight within 180 days. these changes go a long way in -- we should not have been put in the position of on the one

1:49:39 to 1:49:59( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: hand upholding our oath of secrecy while on the other hand being starved for information to conduct necessary oversight. just last week, pursuant to a reest, memoranda discussing some of our briefings were declassified. the documents which are avaible to the public show repeated pushback from

1:50:00 to 1:50:22( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: intelligence committee members surely including me about the failure to brief us or to provide documents or other timely information. madam speaker, last time i checked congress was an independent branch of government. we must assert our prerogative to monitor and rectify problems that surface in the programs we oversee. in the intelligence world some

1:50:23 to 1:50:40( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: of these problems affect our core values aswell as our constitution. security and liberty are not a zero sum game. it is our sworn duty to protect both and the language in the underlying bill and this amendment offered by mr. hoekstra go a long way to rectify long-existing problems. i urge support for the bill,

>==Official Record==