Rep. Davis (R-Va.) on Oversight and the 110th Congress

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III
Ranking Minority Member, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Thursday, April 12, 2007 2:00 PM

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been busy during the 110th Congress, holding hearings on the Valerie Plame scandal, potential politicization of the General Services Administration and more. Coming up soon: an investigation of misleading military statements after the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan and the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch in Iraq.

Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), the ranking minority member, was online Thursday, April 12 at 2:00 p.m. ET to take you behind the scenes and take your questions on the committee and the congressional session in general.

The transcript follows.

Rep. Davis has been a U.S. Congressman serving Northern Virginia since 1994. He spent was chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee from 1998 to 2002 and has been the head Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform since 1998. He led that committee's Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia subcommittee until 2000.

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Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Hello. I'm Tom Davis, and I'm ready to take your questions.

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Centreville, Va.: What is your opinion on Nancy Pelosi's recent travel to Syria after the Bush administration repeatedly advised against this trip? By the way, I believe you are doing a fabulous job in Congress.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I've been to Syria. Frank Wolf and other Republicans have been to Syria. I canceled a trip last summer when the State Department said it would subvert our policies by going there. We don't need 535 secretaries of State. But I also think we would be better served by carrying on a dialogue with Syria. As Speaker, Mrs. Pelosi has to be careful that what a member might consider a fact-finding trip can be construed as a PR gain by the Syrians. Thanks.

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Burke, Va.: What happened at Walter Reed is a travesty -- what is being done to remedy the situation?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: The problem is systematic. It's not paint and walls. We have computer systems that don't talk to each other. We have service men and women who are falling through the cracks. For example, when a Guardsman is deployed, he moves off a state payroll to a federal payroll. Ninety percent of Guardsmen were being paid improperly on active duty. If they were injured, they went off federal orders onto state orders and, again, fell through the cracks. This is big government's failure, and we need to pay more attention to the general operations of government to ensure that it works. But whether it's Walter Reed, Katrina or fighting a war, government is inefficient and impersonal. But it's fixable. We have to revamp our notion of how government operates.

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Fairfax, Va.: Rep. Davis, I understand that you have worked to provide $900 million in federal funding for the Metro-to-Dulles project. The main controversy now is whether the Commonwealth of Virginia will construct an above-ground rail line or tunnel through the Tysons portion of the project. There is also great concern that the state will issue this without full disclosure of the project's contract terms. What are your positions on these issue? What is the risk that Metro to Dulles simply will not be built?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: The governor has opted to stay above ground because he feels this is the best way to ensure the $900 million federal contribution. However, with costs escalating to the $2.7 billion range, there is no assurance the project will qualify even above ground. The governor was bound by contractual arrangements made by his predecessor and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Let's see how this hand plays out. It's a shame the Board of Supervisors never fully considered the tunnel. It seems that would be a far better option. But the governor played the hand he was dealt.

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San Francisco: Will the Committee be conducting oversight into the Federal contracting success of Congressional spouses, specifically yours?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Of course not. The Ethics Committee gave full accounting of my actions. My wife isn't a lobbyist, although 30 congressional spouses are. Thanks for the friendly question.

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Philadelphia: I have a general political science question: There are several political scientists who have claimed that Congress has become more partisan in recent decades. Would you agree this is true and, whether you agree or not, do you believe there are advantages or disadvantages to how Congress has evolved over past decades?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: There is nothing inherently wrong with partisanship. For the last 200 years, the two-party system has kept American politics centered. However, with money moving out to the 527s, the growth of the blogs and Internet and increasingly gerrymandered single-party districts, moderation and compromise are not rewarded. Ask Joe Lieberman.

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Austin, Texas: What did your committee discover about the failures of FEMA during Katrina and its aftermath?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: The major problem with Katrina is that there was no unity of command. Nobody was in charge. FEMA's failures are once again the failure of big government's inability to act quickly and decisively, bogged down by regulations and stovepipes. We can put a man on the Moon, but we can't put a few thousand trailers into a disaster area on time. It was not America's proudest moment, and all levels of government performed badly.

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New York: Dear Congressman Davis: Because no person in the administration illegally leaked the identity of of a CIA operative, and because the Pentagon was merely repeating the information they received from some officers on the ground regarding Pat Tillman, and Jessica Lynch, why are their investigations at all?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I don't know about Jessica Lynch, but I think the Pat Tillman story has captured the imagination of all Americans. A multi-millionaire football star leaves his career to fight for his country, is killed in action by friendly fire and it's covered up by the Pentagon brass. We should be looking at this.

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Fairfax, Va.: You headed the Government Reform Committee from 1998 until the last election. Despite allegations of torture, failure to provide troops with adequate protective gear, waste, billion in Iraq contract fraud, you issued no subpoenas and took almost no testimony on the issues related to the Iraq War. Why not?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: We held a half-dozen hearings on contracting in Iraq and many other hearings on deployment, pay and medical services. In all, our committee held more hearings on Iraq than the Armed Services Committee. We didn't do torture because we thought that was the purview of the Intelligence Committee. But we didn't bury our heads in the sand. We also investigated Jack Abramoff, which led to resignations of White House officials. One committee can't do it all.

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Loudon County, Va.: Do you think that Sen. Warner will retire after this session?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I have mixed feelings on this. I don't want to plead conflict of interest, but he's a Senator's Senator and a tremendous credit to our state. And I'd be proud to support his re-election in any way possible. It's his decision, and I hope he stays. But, if he decides to leave, I'd certainly take a strong look at it.

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Washington: It seems crazy that presidential contenders must raise $100 million to be taken seriously. How much must a Congressional candidate raise to be competitive?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III:$2 million.

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Washington: You must be really busy with your workload. How many nights per month are you doing fundraising events for your own campaign?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Two or three per month. I have an active finance committee, which relieves me of much of the direct solicitation.

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New York: Rep. Davis, what is your opinion on the current stalemate in the Iraq withdrawal debate? Do you find the rhetoric that leaving now creates a security concern to be convincing? Why or why not? Thanks!

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I hope that the parties can sit down and work something out. The executive branch needs the money. Congress has every right to put conditions on it. Ultimately, the American public will weigh in and decide if the conditions are reasonable or if they jeopardize our efforts. I think the current resolution is too prescriptive.

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Fairfax City, Va.: Tom, I know you are big baseball fan. Can you tell us what the Nat's chances are this year?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I'm afraid they'll be eliminated by Memorial Day. But I'm optimistic about next year. And they are still my team. And Ryan Zimmerman should've won rookie of the year last year. Now, that's an investigation worth having.

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Alexandria, Va.: Congressman Davis, thank you for pushing your bill to reauthorize federal funds for the Metro system -- desperately needed. I read that some Republicans oppose it. Can you explain why to me? I mean, doesn't Metro serve almost every federal agency? Isn't it a key part of any workable evacuation plan if D.C. were ever attacked again?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Frankly, I'm embarrassed so many in my party oppose this bill, which was crafted with coordination with the Government Accountability Office. It did pass the House in the last session of Congress by a 2-1 margin. It'll pass by a similar margin this session. But a lot of Republicans don't like to spend any money, particularly if it's not in their district.

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Tysons Corner area, Va.: What is your opinion of our attorney general? Do you think he should resign? Or are you waiting to see how he does on April 17?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: He had every right to fire the U.S. Attorneys. It shouldn't be an issue. However, this has been botched by the Justice Department, and I think the Attorney General will need a good day on April 27. Ultimately, no laws were broken. It's going to be up to the Administration to see if they want to stand behind him or not.

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Washington: Representative Davis: You are the co-sponsor of HR1108, which would give the FDA the common-sense authority to regulate tobacco the same way it does just about every other consumer product in this country. Why is it that so few of your Republican colleagues have joined you in this worthy endeavor?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: We'll get more Republican co-sponsors on this bill.

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Southeast Washington, D.C.: While I applaud you for participating in the Voting Rights march, do you believe that only partial representation is fair? Giving D.C. one rep seems a bit of a cop-out -- do you think that D.C. can ever hope for full representation? Thank you for doing this chat.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: You do what you can. The House vote, in my opinion, is a statutory issue. The Senate vote is a Constitutional issue.

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Bethesda, Md.: To the Honorable Tom Davis III, Representative of the Commonwealth of Virginia: Will you please issue subpoenas for the staff responsible for the IT systems at the White House? All these denials and non-answers from administration spokespeople in regard to the policies and practice surrounding the e-mail debacle could be greatly enriched by the testimony of the IT staff at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The regular users of these Blackberries, desktops, and laptop systems often have little understanding of the systems they use (they either "work" or "don't work" in their perception), while the IT staff are experts in this and could greatly enhance the public's understanding of what has transpired here. I urge you to get to the bottom of this clear violation of the Presidential Records Act as quickly and as completely as possible. Thank You.

washingtonpost.com: White House E-Mail Lost in Private Accounts (Post, April 12)

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I'm sure Henry Waxman, chairman of the committee, will contact the appropriate officials. This is a technical issue that is probably over the heads of most of us but probably should be resolved.

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Falls Church, Va.: I saw a snippet from C-SPAN where you did not seem to be all that concerned about the missing millions of dollars in cash that was sent to Iraq. Care to expound upon that?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: We know where the dollars went -- to pay Iraqi civil servants and the army. There was not appropriate record-keeping, which often happens in a war zone. There was no banking system in the country, and cash was the only alternative.

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Clifton, Va.: I was reading Congressional Quarterly and they said:

"Davis, the former chairman of the committee with responsibility for oversight of government programs, said his options also were limited. He said his committee staff first learned in 2004 about problems with wounded soldiers' health care while investigating their pay problems.

At a February 2005 hearing on care for wounded Army Guard and Reserve soldiers, Davis said, "I'm appalled that these men and women not only have had to face the recovery from their war wounds, but are simultaneously forced to navigate a confusing and seemingly uncaring system of benefits."

Davis said he directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct several studies, "some of them coming from complaints from veterans that were stationed" at Walter Reed.---

But Davis says he never pressed other committees or Republican leaders for legislation or new money to address problems his staff had identified.

In retrospect, shouldn't you have tried to see the President on such an important issue? You were a long-term committee head, surely he would have given you the time.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: We held public hearings on this. We notified everyone involved of the problems. We submitted a bill to revamp the National Guard, give it more authority and a seat at the Join Chiefs' table. We've hounded the Army until it appointed an ombudsman to address these issues, but ultimately, these are Executive Branch issues and we met resistance to change. I'm not sure where this situation will rear its ugly head again. But the problem is systematic, and the brass at the Pentagon fought our legislative changes -- as did the committee chairmen who had jurisdiction. My committee didn't have jurisdiction; only oversight responsibility. I could list 20 other issues where we've called problems to the attention of congressional leaders or the administration and offered legislative remedies -- and where change was resisted. I've had some successes, too, and I'm proud of the work we've done.

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Falls Church, Va.: Do you fully support the President on the surge? How long do you think Congress should wait to judge its success? NBC's Andrea Mitchell says Republican leaders have indicated to Gen. Petraeus privately that he has until August to show firm success. Is that so? If you don't know, is August a reasonable timeline?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I don't think the surge will work as intended. I was one of 17 Republicans to vote against it. That said, I don't want to pull the rug out from under our troops, and let's pray I'm wrong and it works.

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Gate City, Va.: Tom, although you live in Northern Virginia, you have spent a good amount of time in other areas of Virginia. Do you believe that Virginia is truly the greatest Commonwealth in our nation?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Not just in our nation; in the solar system.

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Austin, Texas: How did your oversight committee address the issues surrounding the Abramoff lobbying scandal?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: We took Abramoff's billing records, matched them to White House contacts and wrote a lengthy bipartisan report, which can be viewed on our committee's web site.

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Burke, Va.: Congressman Davis -- traffic continues to be a major issue in Northern Virginia. Besides the tunnel in Tyson's, what other steps are you taking to help?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I was the chief sponsor of the money for the Wilson Bridge, widening of 123, my bill to get $1.5 billion for the Metro system, money for widening I-66 inside the Beltway and numerous other projects. I'm happy that, after 20 years, the state is becoming a player in transportation funding game. Special thanks to the governor, Dels. Tom Rust and Dave Albo and Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis.

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Falls Church, Va.: Congressman Davis, I understand that you and Chairman Henry Waxman have a good working relationship. How does that translate into the work product that the Committee puts out? Does he work with you in setting the Committee's agenda, as I understand you did when you were Chairman?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Absolutely. Henry and I come from different positions on most issues. But I find him to be intelligent, well-prepared and willing to listen. I believe our committee was better when it was Republican-controlled by including him in the process, and I think he feels the same way. You get a better result when you get all perspectives at the table.

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washingtonpost.com: House Oversight Committee's Web site on the Abramoff investigation

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Chantilly, Va.: A writer on a northern Virginia blog said this: "Tom Davis has received contributions from from 5 corporations in the top 10 war profiteers list ... during the 2005-2006 time period. ... The number 1 war profiteer -- CACI. CACI's top man Dr. J. P. London is a long time financial supporter of Rep. Tom Davis. London has personally donated $3,2000. ... Bechtel is number 3 on the top 10 list. Bechtel donated $5,000. ... Number 6 -- General Dynamics -- gave the Davis campaign $5,000. ... Chevron -- Number 8 on the top 10 list -- contributed $1,000 to the Davis Campaign during the 2005-2006 time period. ... Number 9--ExxonMobil -- gave Davis $2,500. ... Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA-11) received $16,700 from 5 of the top 10 Iraqi war profiteering corporations in 2005-2006."

How can you justify taking such contributions when one of your main jobs is to oversee contracting vis a vis the Iraq War?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I worked in the IT community. The IT community fuels the economic boom in Northern Virginia. I stay close to the IT community, and I'm proud of it. I was an IT executive before I came to Congress. Mobil Oil was headquartered in my district, too. These are my constituents. You don't find Kansas representatives voting against wheat farmers. But I've never hesitated to take a company to task when I found wrongdoing.

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Alexandria, Va.: Thanks for doing this chat! It seems that many Congressmen and Senators are giving their support to those seeking the White House in 2008. Who are you behind in the 2008 presidential race?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I think I'll leave this one to the voters. I've got enough problems without getting involved in the presidential jockeying.

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D.C. Republican: When will the house GOP call the Dems on all these made-up scandals ... especially the Attorney General? I mean, this is clearly a dodge for not following up on their campaign promises and the fact they hope not to be forced to deal with anything difficult before the 2008 election.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I think there's a tendency, when the same party controls Congress and the presidency, to under-investigate ... and when government is divided, for Congress to over-investigate. I think voters can tell the difference between real oversight and politics. We're seeing a lot of politics right now. But don't let that detract from appropriate oversight, which also is ongoing.

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Fairfax, Va.: Congressman Davis, the Virginia General Assembly recently voted against a smoking ban in Virginia. I know that Fairfax, while you were on the County Board, was the first jurisdiction to have non-smoking sections in public establishments. Do you support a smoking ban in restaurants in Virginia?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: My wife, State Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, voted for the smoking ban in the General Assembly. And I agree with her ... at least on this issue.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: Since you have done work on postal legislation, I am wondering if you have an opinion of the forever stamp? Do you think it people will understand, buy, and use it?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I like it.

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Fair Lakes: What's your position on federal funding of stem cell research? Do you support the fully expanded support that the Senate just passed? If not, what exactly are the moral qualms? After all, aren't these frozen embryos just thrown away?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I was a supporter and co-sponsor of the House version, which passed the Senate, 63-34. However, to get things moving, we have to look at compromise.

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Vienna, Va.: What do feel is your greatest achievement in the House?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Closing the Lorton Prison and preservation of more than 2,500 of open space in Fairfax, as well as three new school sites, a water treatment facility and the Lorton Arts Center.

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Anonymous: Many people consider campaign contributions to be no more than legal bribery. How do you think campaign contributions influence Congressional voting and do you think that the voters are being adequately represented under the current system? Why not ban all contributions except those made directly by individual citizens to candidates? In my opinion, only individual citizens can vote, so only they should be allowed to contribute.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: People who agree with me ought to be able to support me. People who don't ought to be able to work against me. That's democracy.

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Bethesda, Md.: Early posting because of vacation -- hope you at least read this, Mr. Davis. Why has your committee not followed up on Valerie Plame testifying under oath that she neither "recommended" nor "suggested" her husband, Joe Wilson, for the Niger trip? The Post editorialized on March 7 that the claim of non-involvement was "false," and the Senate Intelligence Committee bipartisanly found the same. If Rep. Waxman can threaten Victoria Toensing that her testimony will be scrutinized for "inconsistencies," why does Plame get a pass? Or is situational lying okay?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: We don't control the agenda on the committee. I'll pass along your comments to Mr. Waxman, but don't hold your breath.

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Arlington, Va.: Rep. Davis, you and your staff did an excellent job, examining to the extent possible what happened during the Sandy Berger incident at the National Archives. Political bloggers on the left focus on issues related to Republican Presidents; political bloggers on the right decry problems with Democratic Presidents. But let's face it, the underlying concept of Presidents of either party leaving office and allowing historians or commissions or investigators to examine their activities is fraught with problems. There always will be a human tendency to display or focus on what was done well and to try to downplay what went wrong. Most of this does not involve document theft, but let's face it, little in political life prepares Presidents or their top aides for the retrospective, objective examination of their official activities. Will the Archives potentially remain an agency examined by one side or the other, with only fragmentary attention paid to it, or will the challenges it faces in handling our nation's history receive broader attention?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: We resisted pressures to politicize this. We did not interfere with the independent investigation. We did not hold hearings during the election season to try to damage Democrats. We waited until the Archives IG made his report. Our report is factual, accurate and by the book. The bottom line remains: Mr. Berger should take a lie-detector test, which he has agreed to do. And the Justice Department should ensure that he fulfills this obligation under his plea bargain agreement. Without it, too many questions remain. This is the responsibility of the Justice Department, and I'm disappointed they have failed to follow through.

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Washington: Mr. Davis, I think that you are wrong about the extent of the government contracting fiascos in Iraq. I've talked to Army procurement lawyers and they tell me that they can't locate contract documents and contracting officers, and that in many cases they have no idea of whether anybody even attempted to do any work under the contract. In the United States, that is pure and simple fraud, and people got to jail. Are you telling us that you intend to ignore contracting fraud in Iraq?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: We held many hearings on contracting in Iraq, including a day when we allowed Halliburton whistle blowers to come before the committee. Understand that contracting in a war zone does not always have the legal niceties that you have at your desk in Washington. We can make it better. We'll continue to ask tough questions. But many contractors are refusing to even help out in Iraq for fear they'll have their reputations tarnished. But we can do better. We need more contracting officers in the war zone to ensure compliance.

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Annandale, Va.: Entitlement spending control is kind of like global warming -- everyone knows something ought to be done about it, but the prospective pain seems to outweigh the benefits of putting this off for the next Congress, administration, generation, to deal with. What can be done to catalyze the political process before all federal revenue is spent on entitlements and debt?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Excellent question. This should be an issue both parties should address. The longer we put it off, the more draconian the solution. The retirement of the baby boomers represents great challenges to federal entitlement security. All options need to be on the table, and both parties should act like adults rather than signing pledges and going back to their respective constituencies and saying, "You can count on me not to compromise." The longer we postpone action, the worse the result.

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Chantilly Va.: Thanks for taking this question. Guantanamo: I keep reading that almost no one there has been charged of a crime, and that those handed over to foreign governments almost invariably are released very quickly (I tried to find an AP story with the stats -- but it's several hundred). Besides the morality issue, isn't this going to haunt U.S. foreign policy for a long time? I read a fair amount of the foreign press (and not just London, etc., but press in the Arab world) and we look very bad on this.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I've been to Guantanamo, and there has been no consistent policy on how to deal with enemy combatants. Bear in mind that many of these prisoners are dangerous -- and if released, would dedicate themselves to killing Americans and destroying our way of life. On the other hand, I'm sure a few innocent people slipped in to our grasp. The one thing we can do is move up their adjudication dates, so they don't languish in prison.

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Alexandria, Va.: As a federal worker, I give to charity through the CFC. I see in The Post that OPM is opening up CFC participation to charities with high overhead. What do you think about this issue?

washingtonpost.com: New Rules Have Charities Clamoring to Participate in Workplace Drive (Post, April 10)

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I think the federal employees should have a full array of options as to where to put their charitable contributions. Full disclosure ... not limited options ... is the best remedy.

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Washington: Some have said that Democrats in Congress want to walk away from the Iraq war regardless of what it costs America, while others say that the Republicans want to win the Iraq war regardless of whether it bankrupts America -- where's the middle course between these two worst-case scenarios?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Obviously, our goal should be to get out of Iraq as quickly as we practically can. Our presence there does harm as well as good. But this is the Iraqis' country, no ours. And they ultimately must solve the political equation of including Sunnis or not in governance. We are seeing 2 million Sunnis fleeing the country and destabilizing neighboring states. A total withdrawal would further destabilize the region. Talk of winning the war baffles me. We won the conventional war. But the after-war is not ours to win or lose. We've given the Iraqis a chance, but they have to step to the plate now. Neighboring Sunni countries also should be engaged rather than American troops.

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Westminster, Md.: What are your opinions on Cal Ripken, Jr. being nominated to the Baseball Hall of Fame? Did you ever support the Baltimore Orioles? Go O's!

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Cal Ripken deserves all the honors he gets.

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Washington: When will Sen. Warner make a decision about whether he plans to seek re-election?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Sen. Warner will make his decision when he's ready. I support him either way. I'm not about to suggest a timetable for him. I think he's a great Senator.

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Boston: Why was oversight so overlooked over the past six years? A little accountability and control of excesses (at the White House and in Congress) probably would have ensured Republican control of the Legislative, not to mention been healthy for our country. What do you regret most?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: I don't think it was lack of oversight that did in Congress -- although it may have helped on the margins. One-party control of government generally doesn't last long if you look at the last 50 years. The Iraq War wasn't helpful to Republican efforts either. Neither was Duke Cunningham, Mark Foley or Bob Ney. Talk about a perfect storm.

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Philadelphia: Rep. Davis ... please explain your letter to Waxman accusing him of abuse of oversight. How can you say that Waxman is abusing oversight when your party, during the Clinton administration, issued 1000-plus subpoenas of 100-plus White House personnel, with nary a significant charge filed against any of those subpoenaed? So far the Bush administration has had a handful of indicted and convicted personnel.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: As I stated earlier, one-party government tends to under-investigate. Two-party government over-investigate. I didn't issue 1,000 subpoenas to the Clinton Administration. I did issue literally dozens to the Bush Administration, more than all other House committees combined. Henry Waxman is doing his job the best way he knows how. We're going to support him when we think he's right. And we're going to blow the whistle when we think he's stepped over the line. But I have a high personal regard for his integrity and his competence, and, in all cases, this will be done in a professional manner that befits this committee.

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Falls Church, Va.: If a measure to ban gay marriage comes before Congress, how will you vote?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: This is an issue that should be resolved by the states. I did support the Defense of Marriage Act, signed by President Clinton, that allows states to deny full faith and credit to other states that allow gay marriages.

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Rep. Thomas M. Davis III: Thank you for the questions. I hope we can do this again.

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