[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 22, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H7231-H7232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COLUMNIST BLOWS CIA AGENT'S COVER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 4 minutes.

[[Page H7232]]

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I was stunned this morning to pick up the 
newspaper and read in an article in Newsday dated July 22 that a 
columnist blew a CIA agent's cover. That is the headline of this 
article. Now, Robert Novak, who is the columnist who did this, said 
they came to me, they thought it was significant, they gave me the name 
and I used it. That is a criminal offense. To give the name of an 
American member of the CIA to uncover them is a criminal offense. 
Somebody in the administration thought it was important to let that 
news out. So they went to Mr. Novak, he is one of the Republican 
Party's pets in the press, and they knew it would go right into the 
press.
  But when will the investigation start in this House by the 
Republicans of the Republican administration people who broke the law? 
Who in the White House had the gall to think they were above the law 
and they could go down and take a reporter and say let me give you the 
name of one of our undercover agents who has been operating abroad? 
Members may ask themselves why would they do that? Were they 
threatening her or did they want other people to understand, do not 
talk anything bad about this administration? This administration is 
trying to make the American people afraid to speak up and dissent. They 
did this because she happened to be the wife of somebody that the 
administration sent to Niger to find out the truth of the forgeries 
that the President spoke about here in this very place. When he came 
back and gave his report, his report was ignored and they insisted upon 
putting it into the speech.
  Mr. Speaker, the question you have to ask is, who is writing the laws 
that cover the White House and the administration? Or are they 
operating on their own? They could do anything and the stonewall on the 
Republican side of the House of Representatives will never bring it up. 
I guarantee Members there will not be any attempt to have an 
investigation by the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; of 
course, we trust them, yes.
  Today, Mr. Bremer is going to sneak into this room and they are going 
to lock the doors and he is going to tell us a lot of things. Imagine 
what would happen if I or the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) 
or even the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) were to stand in this 
well and say the name of an undercover CIA agent. They would be in the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in 15 minutes. They would be 
hanging by their thumbs; but not Mr. Novak and not those people in the 
White House. They get a free pass. They do not operate under the same 
laws you and I do. This is becoming a pretty strange place where the 
White House, whose job it is to enforce the laws of the United States, 
that is what the executive branch is about, right in the bowels of the 
White House, we have somebody who feels no compunction whatsoever to go 
out in the street and hand this information out. I am waiting for the 
investigation.

                          ____________________