[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9585]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE AND FAST AND FURIOUS

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the government continues to hide the 
evidence of the Fast and Furious gun running scheme.
  The attorney general says he doesn't know who authorized this 
reckless and deadly operation, but he still conceals documents to show 
what occurred. The President claims he was not involved, but minutes 
before Congress began the process to hold the Attorney General in 
contempt, the President--``the leader of the most transparent 
administration in history''--desperately asserted executive privilege 
to withhold the documents from Congress.
  According to The Washington Times, when the President was a Senator, 
he said this about the previous administration:

       There has been a tendency on the part of the administration 
     to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there is 
     something a little shaky taking place. I think the 
     administration would best be served by coming clean on this. 
     There doesn't seem to be any national security involved.

  Mr. Speaker, that was then, and this is now. And this President 
conveniently does exactly what he criticized others for doing.
  So the saga of the Republic continues, and that's just the way it is.

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