Ratcliffe Speaks at GOP Press Conference
Good morning. I'm Congressman John Ratcliffe and I have the great privilege
of representing the 4th Congressional District of Texas.
Before coming to Congress, I was a United States attorney and a federal terrorism prosecutor,
and in both of those roles, I took an oath to support and defend and bear truth, faith,
and allegiance to the Constitution. When I got elected to Congress, I took the very same oath.
We all did. But if you look at the current state of affairs in Washington right now,
we're not supporting or defending much of what the framers outlined in our Constitution. Instead of
three co-equal branches of government, each checking the authority of the others to advance
the will of the American people, we're witnesses to, or perhaps at times accomplices to, the rise
of an almighty administrative state where unelected bureaucrats are wielding de facto
lawmaking authority. So as a member of the House Judiciary Committee with the strong support of
Chairman Goodlatte, I've had the opportunity to introduce the Separation of Powers Restoration
Act, a bill which will prevent unelected agency bureaucrats from writing and interpreting the
very same laws they are responsible for enforcing. And in the process of stopping them, we can ensure
that our government gets back to working for the people, not the other way around. So I'm grateful
to Speaker Ryan and all of the Republican leaders for allowing this bill to be taken up by House
Republicans this week as one of our first actions to advance the fight for a better way when it
comes to defending our Constitution. So I thank you all. Thank you. And with that, I'll yield to the speaker.