[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 24, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H5872]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOLD THIS ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNTABLE
(Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. KUCINICH. When the leadership of this House said back in October
of 2006 that impeachment is off the table, what they did is they set
the stage for the administration ignoring the subpoenas of the Congress
for information. Once the administration understood that they did not
have to comply with the law and that Congress essentially took away the
one power that Congress has to compel the administration to respect
Congress as a coequal branch of government, once that was taken away,
the administration basically just decided it wasn't going to appear in
front of Congress to answer questions, they wouldn't produce documents
or papers that were relevant to congressional investigations.
Congress is a coequal branch of government. It is urgent that we
reestablish our coequality, that we create conditions of a check and
balance of administrative abuse of power. This isn't a Republican
matter, it is not a Democratic matter, it is a matter for our country.
We need to have the Congress be strong. We need to hold this
administration accountable.
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