Elijah Cummings

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself 1 minute. I want to say in response to the Speaker, we, too, are all saddened by the tragic death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry who gave his life in service to his country on December 15, 2010. But, Mr. Speaker, despite what my colleagues have claimed, this contempt vote is not about getting documents that show how gunwalking was initiated and utilized in Operation Fast and Furious. Now, the only documents in dispute are the documents created after Fast and Furious ended and after Brian Terry's death, but we pledge to continue to find all the answers with regard to the death of Brian Terry. With that, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), a member of the committee.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley).

Mr. CUMMINGS. I will remind the gentleman that all of this started under President Bush. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) 2 minutes, a member of the committee.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I will continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Does the gentleman have any further requests for time?

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff).

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California, the minority leader, Ms. Pelosi.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself 15 seconds. Again, the gentleman puts out statements in search of facts. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time both sides have.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. CUMMINGS. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield the gentleman another 15 seconds.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, as the Democratic leader said, there is no doubt that the Constitution gives Congress the right and responsibility to investigate. But the Constitution also requires something else. It requires Congress and the executive branch to avoid unnecessary conflict and deceit, accommodations that serve both of their interests. In this case, the Attorney General has testified nine times. He has provided thousands of pages of documents. He has provided 13 pages of deliberative internal documents, and he is willing to provide even more to me, the recent demands of Chairman Issa. But House Republican leaders are not honoring their constitutional obligations. In fact, they are running in the wrong direction as quickly as possible. It is fundamentally wrong to vote in favor of this resolution at this time when the Attorney General has been working with the House in good faith. I believe this action will undermine the standing of the House, will cement the Speaker's legacy, and will be recorded by history as a discredit to this institution. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. CUMMINGS. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I will tell you what you did. When you called the whistleblowers in, and the whistleblowers, who are ATF agents, and you know this--

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, it's interesting here today, what we just did with regard to the criminal contempt. I do believe that it is very unfortunate, and let me tell you why. We have an Attorney General who is indeed an honorable man. We who practice law look up to the Attorney General and any U.S. Attorney. They are folks like us who are well educated and who love their country. And Eric Holder, Jr., is no exception. Over and over again, he has tried to cooperate with this committee. And I'm sure that both sides--his side and our side--have become a little frustrated at times. But as he said in a meeting a couple of weeks ago, he said that he's willing to give the documents, but he was asking that at some point his attorneys have an opportunity to get back to work. Now, Leader Pelosi said something a moment ago that we should not lose sight of, Mr. Speaker, when she spoke about the Constitution and that it requires Congress and the executive branch to avoid unnecessary conflicts and to seek accommodations that serve both of their interests. In the words of Attorney General William French Smith, under President Reagan: It is the obligation of each branch to make a principled effort to acknowledge and, if possible, to meet the legitimate needs of the other branch. I believe that this Attorney General has bent over backwards trying to accommodate us, trying to provide the information, but at the same time, as he has said to us many times, to protect the institution of the Attorney General of the United States. And when I say protect the institution, I mean protect the institution, the same types of things that have assertions of executive privilege, making sure that wiretap applications are not made public, making sure that confidential informants are not disclosed, making sure that ongoing investigations are not interfered with. And I'm not sure, but there may be something that happened--we're not sure; we're checking on it--happened in this House already today, something that may have interfered with the trial already. So as I close, I would submit that he has done the very best that he could, and now we need to meet him halfway. I yield back the balance of my time.