'They Have Zero Respect For The American People': Rich McCormick Rails Against 'The Deep State'

  • 2 months ago
During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) spoke about witnesses dodging questions in hearings and unelected bureaucrats.

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Transcript
00:00Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remind this body that our role as members of Congress is not
00:10just to pass laws and allocate funding.
00:14We are the people's house because we are the closest to the people.
00:20We have the most crucial duty to oversee the executive branch and hold the bureaucracy
00:25accountable for their actions.
00:28With the founding of our nation, this oversight function has been a cornerstone of our democracy.
00:35Yet time and time again, we see witnesses from the executive branch refusing to answer
00:40the questions of the people.
00:43They quibble over details and dodge questions.
00:48Our hearings have become political theater.
00:51Witnesses act like teenagers caught out after curfew.
00:54And the deep state evades the constitutional oversight authority that the people's house
00:59is supposed to yield.
01:01This authority is the way our founders intended to keep the federal bureaucracy in check.
01:08Enough is enough.
01:10This cannot continue.
01:12It is time to take a stand and restore the power of the people's house.
01:18We must ensure that the men and women who would act like rulers over the American people,
01:24despite never being elected, and then intentionally withhold information from the United States
01:28Congress finally face consequences.
01:34Under Title II of current law, their duplicity is already illegal.
01:39Refusing to answer the people's questions that are deemed pertinent to the question
01:43under inquiry is currently punishable by a fine or imprisonment.
01:49The application of this law, however, has been lost to history.
01:54Just this year, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Department
01:59of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and many others blatantly and boldly violated
02:06the law and have gleefully and unabashedly refused to answer questions in hearing after
02:12hearing.
02:14They have zero respect for the American people and no fear of the United States Congress.
02:20At a hearing on June 4th, Attorney General Garland was asked if the Supreme Court's then-pending
02:26decision on obstruction charges would change the Department of Justice's actions in prosecutions
02:32related to January 6th.
02:34Garland's response was, I don't answer hypotheticals.
02:39In November of last year, at the hearing of Homeland Security Committee, Secretary Mayorkas
02:44simply refused to answer when asked by the vice chairman guest how many daily apprehensions
02:53constituted a crisis at the southern border.
02:57Just today, the Director of Secret Service, Dr. Kimberly Cheadle, refused to answer nearly
03:03every single question she was asked from members on both sides of the aisle about
03:09the egregious security failures of July 13th.
03:14This is what we have experienced over and over again.
03:19That is why I am introducing the Stop the Sump Act.
03:24Our legislation will make it clear that those bureaucrats who refuse to answer the questions
03:29of the American people will be permanently disqualified from federal employment.
03:34It will further empower committee chairs and ranking members, members from both parties,
03:39to refer cases to the Department of Justice for prosecutions.
03:43Lastly, it will give the United States Congress more tools to withhold the salaries of those
03:49who obstruct our oversight efforts.
03:53We cannot allow the swamp, the entrenched bureaucrats in Washington who believe they
03:57know better than the people they are supposed to serve, to continue to dodge the oversight
04:03of Congress and rule by fiat over the American people.
04:08We must stand up for the American people and demand transparency and honesty from those
04:13who serve in our government.
04:16Our republic's survival hinges on it.
04:19It is time to send a clear message that we will not tolerate any attempts to undermine
04:24our oversight role.
04:26We are the voice of the people, and we will not be silenced.
04:32Together, we can stop the swamp and ensure that our government is truly of the people,
04:40by the people, and for the people.
04:43With that, I yield.

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