[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17419]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               VICE PRESIDENT IS IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, 5 years ago, when the Vice President met 
with the senior executives of big oil companies, and we wanted to know 
what they discussed when it came to energy policy for the country, the 
Vice President exerted executive privilege and said those meetings were 
private.
  Now when we want to know what he is doing as it relates to America's 
national security in the lead-up to the war in Iraq and after the fact, 
the Vice President has declared he is a member of the legislative 
branch, the legislative branch.
  Every 10-year-old who is studying social studies in the United States 
knows that the Vice President is in the executive branch. So we have 
decided that if the Vice President is no longer a member of the 
executive branch, therefore, we will no longer fund the executive 
branch of his office, and he can live off the funding for the Senate 
presidency.
  We will follow the logic of this ludicrous argument that the Vice 
President of the United States is in the legislative branch, no longer 
in the executive branch. The Vice President is acting like he is 
unaccountable and above the law.
  In fact, there is a real consequence to his decisions. His decision 
to avoid the historical record as it relates to America's national 
security has consequences. For too long he has acted like he is above 
the law and not accountable, and it's time we bring him back to earth.

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