Is the intent of this to ensure that the material given to members is in both languages, or is the intent to control who can give the material? If it's the latter, I have serious problems with it. If it's the former, I understand why it's being done, but what we're then doing by imposing this obligation is saying to witnesses who may be just ordinary Joe Blows like myself from the other end of the country, and who may have material they want to distribute, that we are prescribing limits on how they can do it. It's all right for us to be limited, but I think it's difficult for us to place a limit on witnesses who come from far and wide to tell us what they feel.
On November 13th, 2007. See this statement in context.