Reply #46: The Hill - Tempers Flare in Judiciary Committee Dust-up [View All]

[maddezmom]

Tempers Flare in Judiciary Committee Dust-up
By Josephine Hearn and Jonathan Kaplan
A House Judiciary Committee hearing on the renewal of the Patriot Act turned ugly this morning after Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) gaveled the proceedings to a close over the objections of Democrats.

Democrats continued to make statements and witnesses continued to offer testimony even after Sensenbrenner had left the room. C-SPAN cameras were still rolling as the committee's majority staff rushed to turn off microphones and lights on the Democrats, prompting the television crews to break out boom mikes.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said this afternoon that she wanted an apology from Sensenbrenner. "I will ask Speaker Hastert to order Mr. Sensenbrenner to apologize for his behavior to the witnesses at the hearing today, and to promise that this will never again happen," she said in a statement. Pelosi used the dust-up to highlight the Democrats broader message that Republicans are abusing their power. "The Republicans' abuse of power reached a new low this morning when they tried to silence Democrats at a hearing on the Patriot Act by cutting the microphones," she said. "I commend Judiciary Committee Democrats for continuing to question witnesses after the Republicans' shameful behavior, and for standing up for the institution of the House." Jeff Lungren, a spokesman for Sensenbrenner defended the chairman's actions.

"We operated according to committee and House customs and rules," he said. Every member got a full round of questioning. The hearing lasted roughly two hours so I don't know how would say it was cut off." "We have a number of members on our committee for whom 5 minutes is never enough. Five hours is closer. You're trying to be respectful of everyone's time and was very, very generous…Democrats wanted to turn a thoughtful review of the Patriot Act into open mic night at the Improv," he said
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more: http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/060905/temper.html