[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4357]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             WHERE SECRECY STARTS, ACCOUNTABILITY OFTEN ENDS

   (Mr. DOGGETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
   Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, recent proceedings in this House served 
one and only one valuable public purpose--Hopefully, this totally 
unproductive exercise will ensure that the Democratic leadership never 
again yields to demands that the public business of this people's House 
be conducted in secret.
   Linking secrecy and political power is a dangerous recipe. 
Accountability often ends where secrecy begins.
   Yes, there are always those whose self-importance grows when they 
participate in mysterious hocus-pocus, who insist that their judgment 
is superior to ordinary mortals because they possess confidential 
information not available to mere citizens. Rarely is that true. It was 
not true before the costly and troubling invasion of Iraq, and it is 
not true now.

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