Pelosi on "Saturday Night Massacre"

Pelosi: 'Republicans Perpetrated a Saturday Night Massacre on the Privacy of American Taxpayers'

Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on a provision inserted into the Omnibus spending bill that would give the Appropriations Committee chairmen and their staff access to income tax returns.

"Yesterday, House Republicans perpetrated a Saturday night massacre on the privacy of American taxpayers, giving the chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee and their staff access to income tax returns without any privacy safeguards.

"This taxpayer persecution provision did not have the support of the Congress. The Republican leadership simply did not give Members the required time to read the bill. This is another clear example of how the legislative process under Republican leadership is broken. The Republicans lack of transparency and willingness to abuse their power is undermining democracy.

"It should be of grave concern to all Americans that their privacy could be invaded by such an outrageous provision."