Tim Ryan

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. The Republicans.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. The gentleman makes a great point. We need to reiterate this to our colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to the American people, that this outfit that is currently in charge of the House and the Senate and the White House will do anything that they need to do to promote and bolster their party, the Republican Party. They will be willing to do anything. And they have proven, not just violating the rules of the House or the spirit of the rules of the House by keeping the clock open so that they can pass legislation at 3 in the morning 15 times, or lie about the prescription drug bill, or lie about the war, but to out a CIA agent to benefit yourself politically is outrageous. As my friend said, that is no different, especially in the 21st century when we are dealing with intelligence, the war on terrorism is a war of intelligence, and so those covert operatives are foot soldiers in forward areas; and it is, as has been stated, the moral equivalent of outing a CIA agent, outing a CIA agent is the moral equivalent of telling the enemy where the marines are, and they are coming.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Congressman, that is not you saying that. Who is saying that? Who wrote that?

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. So the gentleman is saying that when we were in charge, we actually put the country before our own political party.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. You can get ahold of us at 30somethingdems@mail.house.gov. We are going to get up these facts on the Web site, too, so you can follow them.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, my good friend and mentor, Congressman Delahunt, is also here to help us explain how. This man was a prosecutor, a district attorney in the great State of Massachusetts. So he understands exactly what, I think, we are going to go through here. And he volunteered his services. This is the kind of gentleman that we are dealing with here, to come down and help us kind of walk through this. We are going to lay out for the American people tonight exactly what has been going on here with the CIA leak, and we have all of these examples, and we have had example after example after example over the past year of different reasons, really, quite frankly, since the war, about what has been going on and how this administration has misled the Congress and misled the American people. So we kind of want to go through chronologically exactly what has been happening. I am going to take a couple minutes here just to walk through this and lay the foundation. We are going to actually have the next hour as well; so we are going to have some time to go through, but I think it is important, as we have all talked about already, to let the American people know exactly what has been happening. Now, this was President Bush's original promise when he was the Governor of Texas. He was running for the Presidency of the United States. He said, ``In my administration we will ask not only what is legal but what is right, not just what the lawyers allow but what the public deserves.'' So this President came in with a pretty high standard of how he wanted his administration to run, and we all respected the President for that. I remember his saying and the Vice President saying time and time again, We are going to bring honor and dignity to the White House. We see where he got it, from his father, who was a very good man. This is his talking about former CIA head talking about leaks: ``I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors.'' That is President 41. Former Republican National Committee Chair Ed Gillespie, who might as well be the Chair of the committee that heads up the Katrina investigation because it is so partisan, this is what he said when he was asked on ``Hardball'' with Chris Matthews: ``I think if the allegation'' of the CIA leak ``is true, to reveal the identity of an undercover CIA operative, it's abhorrent and it should be a crime, and it is a crime.'' And Chris Matthews said: ``It'd be worse than Watergate, wouldn't it?'' And Gillespie said: ``Yeah. I suppose in terms of the real-world implications of it. It's not just politics.'' So first President Bush, Ed Gillespie. The President came into office. He was from Texas. He did not want Potomac fever. He was going to bring a fresh, new approach to Washington. Then once the leak stuff starting coming out, he says now: ``If somebody committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration.'' And that is true. The original person now, Scooter Libby, who has been indicted for perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice, has resigned. So that is good. The President's original statement said that ``if anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration.''

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. ``If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration.'' That is what the President said. That is not what Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Meek, Mr. Ryan said. The President of the United States said that. So now we are basically saying that this President said if anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would be out. So let us see what actually happens here. This is from the indictment, quoted from the indictment: ``On or about July 10 or July 11, 2003,'' Scooter ``Libby spoke to a senior official in the White House, Official A.'' Now, we have come to know that Official A is actually Karl Rove. Official A has now been outed as Karl Rove, ``who advised Libby of a conversation Official A had earlier in the week with columnist Robert Novak in which Wilson's wife was discussed as a CIA employee involved in Wilson's trip. Libby was advised by Rove, ``Official A'' in the indictment ``that Novak would be writing a story about Wilson's wife.'' That is from count one, obstruction of justice, in the indictment of Scooter Libby. Remember the date, July 10, middle of the summer. Now, Karl Rove, a couple of years ago, in September of 2003, the fall, a couple months later, the end of September, September 24, to ABC News producer Andrea Owen, when she asked: ``Did you have any knowledge or did you leak the name of the CIA agent to the press?'' Karl Rove said no. In July, in the indictment, he is the one talking to Scooter Libby about Novak using it in the article. That is a lie. He lied to the American people on ABC News. Asked again, Rove revises his answer. This is in July 4 of 2005, just this past summer: ``I'll repeat what I said to ABC News when this whole thing broke some number of months ago. I didn't know her name, and I didn't leak her name.''

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If the gentleman will yield, so Cooper is going to say that Rove told him.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Wow.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. That is very important. That is huge. Here we are, in the indictment he knows in July. In September of 2003, a couple of months after he had already known and told Libby, he denies it to the American people. He lies about it. In Washington, you know, you misrepresent, you mislead. In Ohio, you lie. We tend in the Beltway here, people who get ``Potomac fever'' tend to soften it up like it is kind of okay. In Ohio this is a lie. So Karl Rove lied to the American people. Now, not only did he lie to the American people, this poor fellow here, Scott McClellan, who is the spokesperson for the White House, says on October 3, which is after July when Rove already knew and told Libby, after September, when he already denied it once to ABC News again, Scott McClellan goes out in public and says, those individuals, Karl Rove, Elliot Abrahms and Scooter Libby, assured me they were not involved with this. So they lied to their friend and colleague Scott McClellan as well. So here is where we are right now.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield further, now we have to be very careful with this next example, because although we can say that Karl Rove lied, we have to be very careful to respect to the Office of the Vice President here, and we intend to do that. This is the next set of facts. This is also from the obstruction count, count one, obstruction of justice in the indictment of Scooter Libby.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If the gentleman will yield further, absolutely. This is from count one of the obstruction of justice indictment of Scooter Libby, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. We have got to keep the dates straight again here. On or about June 12 of 2003, which again is the summer of 2003, Libby was advised by the Vice President of the United States, who is currently Dick Cheney, that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA in the Counterproliferation Division. Libby understood that the Vice President had learned this information from the CIA. That is what the count says. That is what the indictment says, that the Vice President on or about June 12. Here we have the Vice President on Meet the Press in September, September 14 of 2003, a couple of months later. Mr. Russert asks, ``He,'' Ambassador Joe Wilson, ``says he came back from Niger and said that in fact he could not find any documentation that in fact Niger had sent uranium to Iraq or engaged in that activity and reported it back to the proper channels. Question: Were you briefed on this finding in February or March of 02?'' Russert asked Dick Cheney. Dick Cheney says, ``No, I do not know Joe Wilson. I have never met Joe Wilson. No, I do not know Joe Wilson.'' The indictment tells us that on June 12 he is telling Libby about Joe Wilson. And then he says a couple months later to Tim Russert, ``I do not know Joe Wilson.'' That is misrepresenting the facts. That is misleading, in my estimation, the American people once again.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If the gentleman will yield, I think so. What do you mean by ``know.''

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If maybe they paid a little more attention to actually administering government instead of, A, running it down and, B, trying to use the levers of government to try to hurt our own CIA agents, can you imagine the amount of time that was spent trying to organize this outing of this agent after Joe Wilson came back? Can you imagine how much that consumed the White House? Instead of thinking about better, more efficient and effective ways to administer government, they were spending all that time trying to out Joe Wilson's wife. What a misuse of government power. That is a clear abuse of power and the sleaze factor of the whole deal. I will be happy to yield to my friend.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, we have a culture in Washington.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. What we want for kids, for young people, it is not that we do not want them ever to make a mistake. We want to teach them that when they do make a mistake, they learn and they overcome and they become better. Every one of us in our own lives looks back on mistakes we have made and we say it was painful, it hurt, it was embarrassing, but today I am better because of that mistake. And to have the leaders of the country send a message out to the kids across the country, one, that it is okay to lie, that it is okay to withhold information because it may be a little bit embarrassing, that you are never able to make a mistake, that is bad for our kids. It is bad for our country. It is bad for our institution. It erodes the basic tenets of our democracy that a lot of people made a lot of great sacrifices, sometimes their lives, to uphold this concept that we have.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I would also like to thank everyone for being here for the 30-something Group. And I want to make one final point because we have heard this on the talk shows from a lot of different sources about the CIA leak: well, they went after Libby for outing a CIA agent, and they only got him on perjury and false statements and obstruction of justice. And as we close here, I want to just reiterate what the prosecutor said. He said, I am the umpire and as I am trying to umpire the game here and figure out exactly what is going on, by their committing perjury, they were throwing dirt in my eye. So maybe someone will end up getting indicted on this count or several counts of outing a CIA agent. But what Fitzgerald is saying is that when one lies to the grand jury and they lie to Federal agents, it is very difficult for him to prove his case because he cannot get to the truth. And I think in my experience, just reading cases like this, if one really wants to get a prosecutor upset, as my two friends here probably know much better than I, start lying to him. And I think the end is not yet in sight, and it is going to be very interesting to see how Karl Rove ends up in this whole deal. And we know that there have been misleading statements and outright lies to the press and the American people. So to our friends at home: 30somethingdems@mail.house.gov. They can send us an e-mail, and we will continue to try to organize these facts and let everyone know that the Democratic Party wants to put the country before our own party as we have before.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt) said we are eroding basic freedoms here. And if you do not believe that, if you do not believe all of these facts that we are giving to the Speaker and to the American people and to our colleagues through third-party validators, if you weaken the Central Intelligence Agency, all you have done is weaken a country. That is all you have done. And through the leak, through the outing of Joe Wilson's wife, and outing Brewster-Jennings and Associates, the small Boston company that was a front company for the CIA, you also out every contact that this woman has established over a 20-plus-year career. All of her contacts over 20-some years that maybe she could go back to and elicit and solicit information from them, she cannot any longer.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I appreciate the gentleman's comments. We are kind of wrapping things up here, and we have got some late- breaking news here that I think we want to share with the American people that just recently we got some information on.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Tears are shed, threats are made, and arms are twisted.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And this kind of feeds into every single thing. This is always happening because we are paying so little attention to what the administration and government should be.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Every single time. Whether it was lying about the prescription drug bill and the amount it would cost, $400 billion, and then we found out months later it would be 500, 600 and then $700 billion. The war, the oil for reconstruction, the greeted as liberators, and all the nonsense we heard. Then the whole CIA leak investigation. Every single instance. Tax cuts for billionaires, cutting poverty programs and raising tuition and health care on the middle class. Every single instance. Every single instance has put their party before the interests of the United States of America so that they could go down the shakedown street and raise money that the lobbyists will put in the Republican Party coffers and just keep the game going. From here to shakedown street, shakedown street into the Republican coffers, and then you get the legislation you want. And not in one instance has it been in the best interest of the country.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If the gentlewoman will yield, Mr. Speaker. That is the point I think that we have been trying to make all night here, in our first hour and in this second hour, that this outfit who runs this Chamber and who runs the Senate and who runs the White House have over the past 11 years in the House, in the Senate on and off, and in the White House since the 2000 election, have consistently and constantly put the Republican Party before the interests of the United States of America.