[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 21, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H8168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PROPER CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, we are starting to hear a lot of talk 
about where is the proper place for the investigation into the response 
and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
  Madam Speaker, I submit that the proper place for that investigation 
is here in the United States Congress. We have the responsibility, 
indeed, we have the constitutional obligation to be the ones 
responsible for this oversight investigation. In fact, my committee, 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, maintains a standing subcommittee 
called the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, a committee 
that already has subpoena power, a committee that has a history of 
bipartisanship.
  No matter which party was in power, this committee does have a 
history of bipartisanship, and I think it is the correct committee to 
investigate the response in the aftermath to the hurricane.
  An independent commission, as we have already seen in the last year, 
can become a side show for partisanship, and yet we still have to 
convene our own congressional committees in order to write the 
legislation.
  No, the correct path for this Congress to take is to use an already 
established committee for the investigation of the response and 
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

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