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Dear Friend,
A lot has happened in Washington, D.C. over the last 10 days. For example, Congressman Justin Amash (R-MI) and I blocked House leadership from sneaking an expansion of the Patriot Act through Congress. FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Oversight Committee to discuss why he recommended not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her careless use of a private email server. Also, House leadership planned to reward rule-breaking colleagues and bring gun control legislation to the floor for a vote. Thankfully, enough of you made your voices heard, and leadership killed the bill. Read on to learn more.
Congressmen Massie and Amash Block Patriot Act Expansion
On Monday, House leadership tried to expand the Patriot Act by passing H.R. 5606. The bill would have passed on a voice vote if my colleague Congressman Justin Amash had not demanded a recorded vote.
Following the September 11 attacks, Congress passed the Patriot Act, a package of laws that created what I call a "Constitution distortion zone" which lowered the constitutional threshold required to search a person's information. Under the current Patriot Act, financial institutions like banks can share their customers' private information with the government without a warrant, provided those customers are suspected of terrorism or money laundering. H.R. 5606 would have expanded the Patriot Act to allow financial institutions to share private information for literally ANY suspected criminal activity, WITHOUT a warrant. Allowing intimate customer information to be given to the government based on mere suspicion of a domestic offense is unconstitutional and goes well beyond the scope of "terrorism" targeted by the original Patriot Act.
The bill required a 2/3 majority to pass since they "suspended the rules" to bypass the committee and bring it directly to the floor. Using social media like Facebook and Twitter, Congressman Amash and I rallied colleagues and citizens to oppose the bill. The bill received a majority, but not the 2/3 majority required to pass. We must remain vigilant, because leadership could reintroduce the bill through committee and pass it with a simple majority. Hopefully by then, more congressmen would realize how unconstitutional the bill is.
FBI Director James Comey Testifies Before House Oversight Committee
On Thursday, July 7th, I had five minutes to question FBI Director James Comey about the Bureau's investigation of Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server and her reckless treatment of classified information. Watch my questioning below.
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| Click on the photo to watch the video. |
Public Pressure Forces House to Delay Vote on Gun Control Bill
Last week, Speaker Paul Ryan announced his intention to bring a gun control bill (H.R. 5611) to the House floor for a vote in order to placate rule-breaking Democrats who just two weeks ago staged a “sit-in” to try and force a vote on gun control legislation. Fortunately, outside gun rights groups and people across the nation pressured leadership to pull it from consideration.
This bill was unconstitutional, did not effectively counter terrorism, and rewarded Democrats for disrupting regular order in the House. Also, the gun control language of the legislation had already failed in the Senate and was clearly dead on arrival in the House. Though leadership might resuscitate the bill in the future, I am glad the bill is dead for now.
Reps. Jones, Lynch, and Massie Urge Release of 28 Classified Pages of 9/11 Report
On Wednesday, July 6th, Congressman Walter B. Jones (R-NC), Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), and I hosted a press conference to highlight H. Res. 779, a resolution we introduced to urge the House to publish the 28 classified pages of the 9/11 commission report. Eighteen months ago, we introduced H. Res. 14, a similar resolution that urges the president to declassify the 28 pages. The new resolution acknowledges that Congress can unilaterally declassify the redacted pages without the president's permission, since Congress itself created the report.
The pages were initially classified by President George W. Bush and have remained classified under President Barack Obama. In the House, the Committee on Intelligence has jurisdiction over the pages.
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| Click on the photo to watch the video. |
The Intelligence Committee can and should declassify these pages if the president won't. As we debate how to prevent domestic terrorism, elected officials and their constituents need to know more about the events leading up to September 11. Understanding what enabled this tragedy is fundamental to drafting a strategy for the Middle East. As a congressman with access to the full report, I have read these 28 pages. I can assure you the release of these pages will not endanger our national security — keeping them secret will.
Massie Puts Washington on the Record
On the evening of Tuesday, July 5th, the Global Food Security Act, a $7 billion foreign aid bill that would be more appropriately named the Global Food Stamp Act, almost passed on a voice vote with fewer than a dozen members present, but I was there at 9:30 p.m. to demand a recorded vote. The bill passed, 369-53, but the vote is now on the record.
I know the folks who wrote this bill genuinely want to influence governments and feed the poor in other countries, but how can we keep spending money in other countries when we have so much debt and so many needs in our country?
I will always make sure to keep you updated on my activities in Washington, D.C.
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In Liberty,
Congressman Thomas Massie
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