[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17926]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HOW MANY BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT ARE THERE

  (Mr. ELLISON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, there's an easy civics pop quiz for the 
summer break. How many branches of government are there in the United 
States?
  Well, any high school civics student can tell you that there are 
three. But it seems like our Vice President is confused about the 
facts. House investigators have revealed that since 2003, the Vice 
President's office has failed to provide data on its classification 
activities as required under an executive order claiming that the Vice 
President's office is not, ``an entity within the executive branch.''
  It seems that the Vice President's office believes that his office is 
its own branch of government above the law.
  Madam Speaker, in light of this confusion, perhaps the President will 
see fit to give the Vice President some time off to improve his 
understanding of civics in the United States.

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