[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY

  (Mr. ARCURI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my concern about a 
dangerous precedent and irresponsible wrongdoing in this 
administration.
  Recent media reports have revealed that the Office of the Vice 
President exempted itself from a presidential Executive Order created 
to protect national security information. Since 2003, the Vice 
President's office has refused to properly report whether they possess 
certain classified information and went so far as to block inspection 
of their office to find out. The Vice President justified the step by 
saying that his office was not part of the executive branch of 
government.
  I would point out, Mr. Speaker, that the rest of the executive branch 
complied with the order and properly reported their handling of 
critical classified information.
  Mr. Speaker, I raise two serious objections to this practice. First, 
mishandling of classified data poses a grave and serious risk to our 
country and one should not take that lightly. And, second, as a former 
district attorney, I believe that no one is above the law. Rule of law 
must apply to everyone equally. How do we expect to enforce the law in 
localities when it is broken and held in ill regard at the highest 
levels of government? We must hold this administration, like all other 
Americans, accountable for their actions.

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