During debate on the House floor, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) called for a vote on an amendment that would require the Attorney General to "preserve and release any records related to Jeffrey Epstein."
00:00He yields back to the gentleman from Georgia, the gentleman from Georgia Reserves.
00:03Yes.
00:03The gentlelady from Pennsylvania is recognized.
00:07Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to make
00:12an order Amendment No. 50 to H.R. 3633, offered by Representative Khanna, which requires the
00:20Attorney General to preserve and release any records related to Jeffrey Epstein.
00:25I applaud my colleagues, Representatives Vizzi and Khanna, for their work to release the Epstein files.
00:31I strongly support these efforts and the release of the files.
00:35Last night at the Rules Committee, Republicans rejected an amendment that would have required
00:40the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files, multiple criminal investigations, which
00:45allegedly documented trafficking of young women and girls by Jeffrey Epstein, a sex offender
00:50and financier with whom the President often socialized.
00:54For years, the President and those in his orbit, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI
01:00Director Kosh Patel, alleged that prior administrations had covered up the identities of the rich and
01:05powerful people to whom Epstein had trafficked the girls and the facts surrounding his allegedly
01:11suspicious death.
01:13They came into office pledging to seek accountability for the horrific crimes by revealing Epstein's
01:19client list and other information, but recently backtracked and refused to release any further
01:25information.
01:26There appeared to be only two explanations for this about-face.
01:29Either the Epstein files did not contain the explosive information that Trump and his allies claimed during his campaign, or this administration is the one covering up what's in the files.
01:39So, last night, all of the Republicans on the Rules Committee, except one, voted against releasing
01:45the files.
01:46Why would they try to prevent the truth about Epstein's abuse and those he enabled from coming
01:51out?
01:52That's anybody's guess.
01:53But with this previous question, the entire Republican conference has the opportunity to
01:57correct that mistake.
01:58They can vote today to release the Epstein files.
02:02Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the record, along
02:08with any extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
