Documents / Hearing transcript
This is the printed transcript of a July 26, 2023 hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability's Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, chaired by Rep. Glenn Grothman. Ryan Graves, David Grusch and retired Navy Commander David Fravor testified on unidentified anomalous phenomena. Members pressed for transparency, whistleblower protection and better pilot reporting. Graves described a near mid-air collision with a dark cube inside a clear sphere off the Eastern Seaboard.
49 I also want to note for our witnesses and for the public that I am a freshman Member of Congress and I have only been here for 7 months. But this is by far the most bipartisan conversation and discussion that I have seen happen in the Congress and I think that a topic of this significance as it relates to our national secu- rity, as it relates to information that we are trying to gather for the American public does bring people together and I think that has been really great to see. I think it is also important to note for the public, we—today in our hearing we had on our side also both our full Ranking Member, which is Mr. Raskin, and our Vice Ranking Member, which is Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, both here at our hearing. I think it shows the importance and seriousness that our side of the aisle is taking to this important hearing but also the broader issue as it relates to working with our Republican counterparts on this Committee. I want to additionally add that I think—and I encourage—I think it is really important that we have and continue these discus- sions and these hearings. Clearly, there is a lot of information that we do not know. But it is also very clear that we have to continue our investiga- tion and accountability on asking the right questions and ensuring that they are part of the public record. One thing that was important today is some folks might wonder, you know, why are we asking questions that might already be out there or that have been asked before. It is important that they are asked and put into the public record as it relates to this Com- mittee. And so I want to thank you for, you know, answering some ques- tions multiple times. I know not just in maybe meetings you had with some Members but also here in the public. Let me also just add an additional note that it is important also that our friends in the media and those that are not just reporting on this hearing but that have reported on this topic and that may in the future, the media has an important role in this process and it is very important that the media engages, does independent in- vestigation, and reports on not just what happened today but what they see independently as what has happened around UAPs in the broader community. That is also an important public benefit that we have in trying to get the information and the facts as it relates to this. Let me also just say, finally, that as a teacher and an educator and a longtime teacher and researcher that I also really believe in following facts and doing your homework and making sure that you follow science as we try to get as much information as possible. So, I want to thank you all for agreeing to do that today. Trans- parency is a cornerstone of government. We live in a vast galaxy. A lot of unanswered questions, and thank you all for being here today. Mr. Chairman? Mr. GROTHMAN. Thank you. I would like to one more time thank Mr. Burchett and Ms. Luna for bringing this to our attention. It is a topic that has interested me since I was in school. It was a very illuminating hearing.
Hearing transcript, from the hearings collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 54 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.