Dear Editor,
On March 9, 1954, Republican Vermont Sen. Ralph Flanders stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate to condemn fellow Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy on his claims that there were communists in the state department. The Flanders speech was an immediate sensation, as Flanders’ courage to speak up against a member of his own party electrified the nation. Two months later, Flanders introduced a bill to censure Sen. McCarthy. It passed with bi-partisan support.
Congressman Peter Welch has taken up the mantle of Sen. Flanders. Welch stated in a VTDigger interview: “[Flanders] stood up and said no, this has got to end. The role I have to play is what Vermonters have always played. And that is to resist the encroachment of a single civil liberty of a single person at any moment at any time.”
Now is that moment in time, Congressman Welch. Congressman Adam Schiff deserves condemnation in the well of the House and a bill of censure.
If Congressman Adam Schiff, as a member of the House intelligence committee, had access at least two years ago to the information about FISA abuses outlined in Horowitz’s report. Despite that, Schiff, on March 24, 2018, publicly released a memo which gave an utterly false picture of the classified material to which he and IG Horowitz had access.
The purpose of Schiff’s memo was to counter then Intelligence Committee chair Rep. Devin Nunes’ report on FISA abuses. Sc
If Congressman Welch claims to take up the mantle of Sen. Flanders, then he must stand in the well of the House, and condemn his Democrat colleague, Rep. Schiff, for Schiff’s repeated false statements about the FISA process, Carter Page, and Republican Devin Nunes. It will take the courage of Flanders to stand up against a member of his own party. We shall see if Rep. Welch lives up to the Flanders standard.
Deborah Bucknam,
Walden
