[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 126 (Thursday, August 2, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H9548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      AMERICA NEEDS A PLAN TO PROVIDE FOR CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Most Americans would agree that it would be prudent to 
have a plan to provide for the continuity of government and the rule of 
law in case of a devastating terrorist attack or natural disaster, a 
plan to provide for the cooperation, the coordination and continued 
functioning of all three branches of the government.
  The Bush administration tells us they have such a plan. They have 
introduced a little sketchy public version that is clearly inadequate 
and doesn't really tell us what they have in mind, but they said, don't 
worry; there's a detailed classified version. But now they've denied 
the entire Homeland Security Committee of the United States House of 
Representatives access to their so-called detailed plan to provide for 
continuity of government. They say, trust us. Trust us, the people who 
brought us Katrina, to be competent in the face of a disaster? Trust 
us, the people who brought us warrantless wiretapping and other 
excesses eroding our civil liberties? Trust us?
  Maybe the plan just really doesn't exist and that's why they won't 
show it to us. I don't know. Or maybe there's something there that's 
outrageous. The American people need their elected representatives to 
review this plan for the continuity of government.

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