Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
I was under the impression—and someone could tell me otherwise—that the whips' and House leaders' offices had agreed that there wouldn't be additional amendments to this. It's disappointing that we're starting this off already violating that particular agreement.
Having been on committees—not as many as Mr. Julian—I haven't run into this problem before. Does it create a level of bureaucracy that is unnecessary for the clerks? Having dealt with many clerks throughout my six years here, it seems to have run well in terms of the witnesses that have been provided. The invitations go out and only a certain percentage of them are accepted. I doubt we are going to get into too many issues where we're summoning witnesses to appear before this committee.
I don't understand the necessity of this motion, especially in light of the agreement between the parties before we even arrived here. I think it is an unnecessary item. In my opinion, the clerks have done outstanding work in my six years here. Perhaps Mr. Julian disagrees.
We're also reliant on the schedules of the witnesses. Mr. Julian may want his witness to appear on Monday, and they may not be available until Wednesday. Do we not have the meeting on Monday, so that a partisan list of witnesses is available? I think the issue is, as long as the members are available to present the witnesses and those invitations go out, whether it really matters where in a two-hour segment they appear.
I can't support this motion.