00:00Yes, I have a unanimous consent request.
00:03Ms. Van Dyne said that we hadn't asked Mr. Musk to appear before the committee, and I
00:09have here a letter of February 6, 2025, over a month ago, signed by Congressmember Gwen
00:16Moore and myself, asking Secretary Besant and the head of DOJ, Mr. Elon Musk, to appear
00:22before the committee.
00:24Without objection.
00:25And I yield the balance of my time to Mr. Doggett.
00:30Thank you very much.
00:33Today's resolution and our consideration is not the first time we've sought this information.
00:39On February 5, every Democrat on this committee wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr.
00:45Besant, and the Acting Commissioner, Mr. O'Donnell, at the Internal Revenue Service, and asked
00:51for the same information we are seeking today.
00:53Every same facts that we sought from them over a month and a half ago.
00:59Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent to put these letters into the record.
01:03Without objection.
01:05And as Ms. Chu just pointed out, the next day, February 6, after a meeting with Speaker
01:12Johnson, they affirmed in their letter, Ms. Chu and Ms. Moore, members of this committee,
01:19that they were looking forward to having Mr. Musk here and others from DOJ.
01:23Because we had an oversight committee set for a meeting to explore these matters.
01:29Were promised that that witness would appear.
01:32And so who came?
01:34Several witnesses who, when questioned, indicated they didn't have any facts.
01:39They could say that DOJ had done nothing because they knew nothing.
01:44And so here we are six weeks later.
01:47This resolution was originally presented to the committee on February the 12th.
01:54Our third attempt to get this information.
01:57And yet, nothing has been forthcoming.
01:59And this morning, we hear, I must say, the very laughable suggestion that the reason
02:06Mr. Musk is not here is because Democrats didn't ask him.
02:11That just doesn't meet a test of the least bit of credibility.
02:15It is as incredible as some of the things that President Trump has been telling us,
02:21like his false claims, really his lie, that people who were of advanced years, 125, 150,
02:30350 years, were getting Social Security.
02:33All done to discredit Social Security.
02:36What is at stake with our privacy?
02:39Well, Mr. Schneider pointed out that one of the issues here is the danger of identity
02:45theft, a serious danger that many Americans have experienced the horror of having their
02:51identity stolen and finding out they have to undo everything that affects their life
02:58because this has happened.
03:00And here we have a group of musketeers who couldn't even protect their own website from
03:05being hacked.
03:07And yet, they may have access to extensive private information.
03:10The second concern I've raised is about tax payments, that people in my district and across
03:16the country are submitting far fewer tax returns than they did last year this time because
03:23many of them are concerned that their data will be exposed.
03:28And privacy overall, there was a time that the Republican Party cared about the privacy
03:34of individual Americans, thought that government overreach was a problem, opposed to national
03:41identification cards and other ways that might be intrusions on Americans.
03:45Well, let me tell you what data the musk and the musketeers were accessing.
03:52Information about every single wage earner in this country and their employer, wages,
03:58their employer tax identification numbers, social security numbers, verified dates of
04:04unemployment insurance, social security records.
04:08And what they have told us this morning, other than these laughable suggestions, is that
04:13the only way that they as Republicans in this new administration can fight waste, fraud
04:18and abuse is to expose the information, the private information of American citizens across
04:25this country.
04:26The only way they can fight waste, fraud and abuse is to invade individual privacy.
04:32And to give it to people like the 25-year-old self-described racists who express particular
04:38disdain for South Asians who are great members of our country, to give it to that kind of
04:43person to do with what they may.
04:46That is wrong.
04:47And this resolution of inquiry does not slow the effort of fighting waste, fraud and abuse.
04:52It does advance the effort of protecting the privacy of every single American and I urge
04:57its adoption.
04:59Are there additional members who wish to strike the last word?
05:04Seeing none, are there any amendments to the resolution?
05:10Seeing none, I will now recognize Mr. Buchanan for the purpose of offering a motion.
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