Speeches
Pelosi on Contempt: 'Oversight Is an Institutional Obligation to Ensure Against Abuse of Power'
02/14/2008
“I rise today in sadness, not in confrontation. This is not a conflict that the Congress has
sought. In fact, as the distinguished
chairman of the Judiciary Committee has indicated, the committee has repeatedly
sought to avoid confrontation, repeatedly making requests that have been
ignored or rejected by the White House on completely unacceptable terms.
“The Judiciary Committee, and indeed the Congress, is
clearly entitled to this information – it involves neither national security
information nor communications with the President; the President has no grounds
to assert executive privilege.
“On the other hand, Congress has the responsibility of
oversight of the executive branch. I
know that Members on both sides of the aisle take that responsibility
seriously.
“Oversight is an institutional obligation to ensure against
abuse of power, in this case the politicization of the Department of
Justice. Subpoena authority is a vital
tool for that oversight.
“Today we seek to require the Department of Justice to bring
contempt motions against Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten. When our resolution passes, we hope that the
Administration will realize that this House of Representatives, this Congress,
is serious about our constitutional role of oversight and will reach a
settlement with us over the documents and testimony at issue. I still hold out the hope that they will
cooperate.
“But if the Administration fails to do so, and if it orders
the Department of Justice not to file contempt proceedings, we will then,
through this resolution, have the power ourselves to go to the federal court
and seek civil enforcement of our subpoenas.
“The resolution before us today should not be a partisan
issue. This isn’t about Democrats or
Republicans. Former Congressman Mickey
Edwards, who once served in the House Republican leadership, has said that the
enforcement of the subpoenas in the U.S. Attorney matter is about ‘defending
Congress – not a Democratic or Republican Congress but the peoples’ Congress –
as a separate, independent and completely equal branch of government.’
“The subject of the Judiciary Committee’s investigation
involves serious and credible allegations that federal law enforcement was
politicized. Political manipulation of
law enforcement undermines public confidence in our criminal justice system. Congress must find out what happened, not
just in terms of those who were fired, but also whether improper criteria was
used to retain the remaining U.S. Attorneys.
“We must have the information in order to protect against
political manipulation of law enforcement, and it must be provided on terms
consistent with our Constitutional obligations.
The so-called White House offer refused to permit even a transcript of
any interviews and to permit questions on discussions, and required the
Committee to promise in advance not to seek further information.
“This is beyond arrogance; this is hubris taken to the
ultimate degree. As former Congressman
Edwards said, ‘No Congress, indeed no lawyer, would ever agree to such an
outrageous demand.’
“Madam Speaker, we must continue in our efforts to restore
our nation’s fundamental system of checks and balances. This Congress and future Congresses must have
the ability to conduct meaningful oversight.
It is the hallmark of our constitutional democracy that has served us
well for more than two centuries.
“Thank you again, Chairman Conyers for your leadership;
Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee that dealt with
this issue; Chairwoman Louise Slaughter for the important work of the Rules
Committee in all of this. To the new
Members of Congress on this issue of Article 1, led by John Yarmuth, Article 1
protects the prerogatives of the Constitution of the Congress of the
“Let us uphold our oath of office by voting for this
resolution, my colleagues. Let us
restore the rule of law. Let us act to
protect and defend our Constitution by ensuring appropriate Congressional
oversight in all areas essential to the well-being of the American people.
“I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.”