Congressman Peter DeFazio: "Maybe There IS A Conspiracy"

http://www.rense.com/general77/cong.htm

Congressman Peter DeFazio -
"Maybe There IS A Conspiracy"

By Jeff Kosseff
The Oregonian Staff
7-21-7

WASHINGTON -- Oregonians called 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 U.S. House on the Homeland Security
Committee, DeFazio, D-Ore., is permitted to enter a secure "bubble-
room" 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 says.

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 says. "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.