[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6616]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 6616]]

                             ELIAN GONZALEZ

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, it was with shock, disgust and outrage that I 
watched on TV over Easter weekend flack-jacketed government agents, 
acting like military commandoes armed with high-powered rifles breaking 
down doors, assaulting reporters, ransacking a private home and seizing 
an innocent child in the dark of night, while negotiations were 
ongoing, with something they called a search warrant. But the warrant 
they had was not based on a proper court order. It was based on an 
after-hours ex parte application that claimed Elian was being 
``concealed'' and ``unlawfully restrained.''
  The Justice Department should have waited until a judge had a chance 
to hold a hearing to determine if anyone was in contempt of court. Only 
then would a court order have been appropriate. Why did they not follow 
that procedure? Because an earlier application by the Justice 
Department for such a court order had already been turned down.
  So what did they do? They just broke into the home of an American 
citizen and seized him. For the executive branch to ignore a court 
ruling is a very dangerous precedent. So much for the rule of law. We 
have a constitutional system of checks and balances. Checks on the 
executive branch will only work if they are made to obey the courts. It 
was a bad day for America and a new low for this administration.

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