[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H7166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SECRETARY OF STATE POMPEO'S SENATE TESTIMONY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Engel) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, a few hundred feet north of here in the 
Senate, Secretary of State Pompeo will soon testify about President 
Trump's disastrous performance at the recent NATO summit and, worse, at 
his meeting in Helsinki with Russia's dictator, Vladimir Putin.
  Now, if you are a Member of this body and you are interested in what 
Mr. Pompeo has to say on these topics, you had better turn on your 
television, because he isn't coming over here.
  Secretary Pompeo is ignoring the House, despite our request that he 
come testify or brief our Members. He is blowing off half of the 
legislative branch. This is outrageous, and I bet if Secretary Pompeo 
were still a Member of this House, he would think so too.
  We have too many unanswered questions, Mr. Speaker. What happened in 
President Trump's secret meeting with Putin? They sat together for 2 
hours with no one else aside from interpreters.
  What deals were made? What agreements were reached? The Russians are 
claiming that a great deal was discussed, but so far, we have heard 
nothing from this administration.
  President Trump's actions in Helsinki were a betrayal of his duties. 
He had already insulted our closest friends and allies, and with the 
world watching, he sided with Putin over our own intelligence and law 
enforcement communities about Russia's attack on our democracy.
  So we need to see Secretary Pompeo and Secretary Mattis and Director 
Coats. I recently joined with my fellow ranking members, Mr. Smith on 
the Armed Services Committee and Mr. Schiff on the Intelligence 
Committee, demanding that these senior officials come to the Hill and 
shed light on what took place. We don't know, and the Secretary of 
State is not coming to the House to tell us.
  We have gotten no response to our requests. With Secretary Pompeo set 
to appear in the Senate, that is really a slap in the face to this 
body. Every Member of this body should object to the fact that this 
administration won't give us the time of day. I object, and I will keep 
pushing until we get the answers we need.

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