Congress Denied Access To Post-Terror Attack Plans
WASHINGTON — Constituents called Rep. Peter DeFazio's office, worried there was a conspiracy buried in the classified portion of a White House plan for operating the government after a terrorist attack.As a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, DeFazio, D-Ore., is permitted to enter a secure "bubbleroom'' in the Capitol and examine classified material. So he asked the White House to see the secret documents.
On Wednesday, DeFazio got his answer: DENIED
"I just can't believe they're going to deny a member of Congress the right of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United States after a significant terrorist attack,'' DeFazio said.
Homeland Security Committee staffers told his office that the White House initially approved his request, but it was later quashed. DeFazio doesn't know who did it or why.
"We're talking about the continuity of the government of the United States of America,'' DeFazio said. "I would think that would be relevant to any member of Congress, let alone a member of the Homeland Security Committee.''
Bush administration spokesman Trey Bohn declined to say why DeFazio was denied access: "We do not comment through the press on the process that this access entails. It is important to keep in mind that much of the information related to the continuity of government is highly sensitive.''
Norm Ornstein, a legal scholar who studies government continuity at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said he ``cannot think of one good reason'' to deny access to a member of Congress who serves on the Homeland Security Committee.
"I find it inexplicable and probably reflective of the usual knee-jerk overextension of executive power that we see from this White House,'' Ornstein said.
This is the first time DeFazio has been denied access to documents. DeFazio has asked Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., to help him access the documents.
"Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right,'' DeFazio said.
(Jeff Kosseff can be contacted at jeff.kosseff(at)newhouse.com)
http://www.newhouse.com/congressman-denied-access-to-post-attack-government-continuity-plans.html
the original article concerning this issue (i could have sworn i made a thread on it, but could find nothing)
With scarcely a mention in the mainstream media, President Bush has ordered up a plan for responding to a catastrophic attack.Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the Executive Branch. And he gives himself the responsibility “for ensuring constitutional government.”
He laid this all out in a document entitled “National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51” and “Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20.”
Other than a discussion on Daily Kos led off by a posting by Leo Fender, and a pro-forma notice in a couple of mainstream newspapers, this document has gone unremarked upon.
The subject of the document is entitled “National Continuity Policy.”
http://progressive.org/mag_wx051807
wow....so many questions...
have the seeds for a dictatorship have been planted? all it would take is another 9/11 for bush to claim absolute power and render the house and congress helpless.
is this how we preserve our freedom? by giving it away and unconditionally trusting one man? i thought that was a dictatorship...right?
and why the secrecy? what is there to hide?
how can one branch of government declare itself autonomous from the others?
how come the evil jew liberal bias media hasnt even TOUCHED this story when its been out for months?
were the conspiracy theorists correct?
why will this thread inevitably be trolled by retards?