American politics, of congress

[Dubbelosix]

I'm deep into chapter five of my book, and I was considerind a new antogonist, who was active in the senate subcommitee. After having talks with kindle publishing about securing a deal, I've been extremely picky about certain subjects and started bulking my book's story out. I have a scene in chapter five, introducing the hon. Jennifer Alinsky who will play a larger part in the book to the final scenes. My main concern is politics, I know next to nothing about American politics, especially the lingo involved, so I had to study it. I was hoping fir some feedback from any Americans concerning the passage I wrote. A matter of desperation really because learning this stuff online and knowing it us ok, are two different things. I want to get the politics as correct as possible. The passage in chapter five goes like this:

 

23.

Congressional Cross-Examination Senate Subcommittee
U.S. Capitol Building

For Senator Jennifer Alinsky, it was just another day in the office. For everyone else, who had been allowed to attend the subcommittee, a day of reckoning for those who worked in the sordid details of homeland security. 
She was a late participant in this trial: Agents of the homeland security, especially the secretary, had been accused of keeping information about occurances of unidentified flying objects in the U.S. airspace, especially round sensitive military bases across the country.
Senator Alinsky, a sharp-tounged viper, but highly liked among her peers, had been called in to get progress in the cross-examination of the secretary of the homeland security, which had been stalling in the last few months, due to the witness not answering questions on the nature of the investigation.
After the secretary had sworn oath in front of congress, the hon. senator Alinsky jumped into action, hoping to make light work of the issue, which concerned leaked documents on sensative information concerning the complaints filed by the military on the UFO's. Each one had been personally accounted and signed by the secretary of homeland security.
"This subpoena-infused partisan charade is an embarrassment for our country and while the issue of information classification due to national security is not questioned, there is some information which should be shared to officials on a broader range and the sharing of certain important information is just as much in the national interest of homeland security. Now, I believe my fellow congressmen and women, have been asking some pertinent questions on this issue. One question has been specifically dodged on numerous occasions. That one question still remains of particular interest, so I'm going to ask this question again to give your good self a chance to clear up any misconceptions we might have concerning how this matter is being dealt with on an official level. So without further ado, can you please explain to me how the homeland security and the NSA have dealt with the handling of certain classified information outside the scope of congress? Can you also explain to us the general consensus of opinion on, and I qoute, 'the acute phenomena of unidentified aerial objects,' and the intramural actions of those in your facility concerning the handling of that information."
The secretary nodded his head and replied, "They have different focuses in which the NSA is a high-technological intelligence and counterintelligence agency which inexorably gathers communications and digital intelligence from foreign nations and terrorist organizations. It's always within their purview, in short, to deal with any natural disaster threats and events and non-natural threats to the people of the U.S. I can't go into specifics of how the agencies are dealing with this, or express the general viewpoints of others, or go into detail about how the information is progressed, if it is at all."
The senator smiled, "Your response isn't optional due to the powers of legislation in the subpoena, you must answer the questions posed to you, because it's within the interests of congress that certain information be shared with manditory parties."
She spoke with great authority, in her thick southern accent.
"I really can't answer your questions," the secretary informed the senator, taking a glance at the chairman who was overseeing the hearing, "The legislation does not have authority in this manner, you're asking about state secrets that are outside the jurisdiction of this subcomittee."
The jolt of his statement had various people muttering from the back. Shocked herself at the blatant refusal to answer the question, the senator just looked at her collegues in amazement. She shuffled over to one of her collegues, whispered into his ear, and the colleague looked down at his papers and whispered something back, to which Alinsky nodded her head, "All due respect mister secretary, but you'll understand why this might be strange ground for congress, we're not used to people like you refusing to answer a few questions. Are you saying you answer to a law which we are not privy to?"
The secretary shook his head, "No of course not, but a lot of the information I deal with, is a matter of national security, which a lot of it is regarded as top secret, mam."
She shook her shoulders, in front of everyone, as a reaction to losing any grip she thought she had in the matter and could only propose the most extreme punishment, "I will hold you in contempt of congress, mister secretary. We're not asking about details that would put anyones lives at risk, as congress, we are acting within out rights to summon you on a matter that troubles us all. Contrary to what you might believe, that is within our jurisdiction."
She paused, weighing everything in, then continued, "But I'm not going to hold you in contempt today. I'm going to give time for our factions to discuss these things in a more private way with yours. Congress does have powers to investigate these matters, just enough that it doesn't cross any figurative lines with the legislation of national security. Keep in mind mister secretary, this isn't over. Congress is deeply worried about reports of unidentified aerial phenomena that may be intercepting controlled airspace. It's controlled for a reason.  I've got to pull the strings on the matter and make communucations more accessible, keeping state secrets is one thing. Protecting technology from countries spying on us is another. Perhaps for the sake of national security the chairman will allow a closed session."
A senator T. Grayling cut into the discussion, "Pardon me, for a moment Miss Alinsky, I have a question for the secretary."
"By all means," Alinsky replied.
He looked at the files in front of him, scoring under a set of dates and said, "This is the third session of congress on this matter and each time you refused to give evidence to help clarify any mystery behind this subject. Last time, congress asked if you could elaborate on the subject. You told this pannel that the subject was being investigated retroactive to the subpoena. We asked you who was investigating it and what was the general conclusion, and you refused to answer the questions. Am I right in believing that the agency you work for has effectively told you that discussion of the subject was prohibited?"
"Yes sir." 
The senator continued on that admission, "And who is in charge of that information? Let me put it another way, you are the secretary of homeland security, who has authority over you, concerning how information is cherry picked and consequently released?"
"I can't say sir."
"You can't or you won't?"
The secretary, strung on how to reply, answered in the only way he could, "I'm not at liberty to divulge such answers senator, I don't either have authority to release that kind of information."
At this point, the chairman, known as senator J. Rusco intervened, to the delight of the secretary who was feeling the ever growing frustration from the congress, "Ok I'm going to call a closed session on this, from now on we will extrapolate the investigation under these terms. Hopefully we can get some kind of closure behind closed doors, so-to-say. A time for another meeting will be set using the motion given by the sovereign powers of this panel. Congressional meeting is adjourned."

24.

As always, after a congressional session, the elite few on the panel would meet in the southwest wing of the United States Capitol in Washington. There, the lawlords would discuss the outcome of any dealings in congress. Alinsky was verbally attacked by Thomas Grayling openly in front of their colleagues. It wasn't a huge surprise. While congress rarely squabble among themselves during a live session, it wasn't an unheard phenomenon of senators disagreeing in the aftermath about certain actions that took place.
"What the hell are you doing letting him off so easily," Grayling pressed Alinsky, "We called you in because we thought you could-"
Alinsky shut him off by finishing his sentance, "To do the dirty work that you are so incapable of doing yourself?"
"That's not what I was going to say!"
"No maybe not? But that is what was going through my head."
The senator who had been beside Alinsky and was part of the deliberation  butted in, "You whispered in my ear, whether congress could hold him accountable to contempt, why did you ask this if you were not going to act on it?"
"And you said we had sovereign power, powers we can decide therefore not to act on it," she replied, "Put it this way, ladies and gents, if there are state secrets protected by law, then the secretary was correct not to answer us. Do you want our investigation to close because of mistrial?"
"You were too easy on him, he's been evading crucial questions now for three sessions," Grayling replied.
Alinsky smiled and put her hands up, "Which is why I suggested a closed session. I really get the impression some of you are incapable of following the law on this one. It's an open and shut case in this respect, as he wasn't taking the fifth, nor was he refusing to answer questions with any impunity, only that he couldn't openly do so, because of the laws imposed on him. That means those same laws apply to us. Our faction will contact the national security board of advisors for information on the case at hand, but it cannot be done in an interrogatory way. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

Edited August 12, 2021 by Dubbelosix

[Vmedvil2]

5 hours ago, Dubbelosix said:

I'm deep into chapter five of my book, and I was considerind a new antogonist, who was active in the senate subcommitee. After having talks with kindle publishing about securing a deal, I've been extremely picky about certain subjects and started bulking my book's story out. I have a scene in chapter five, introducing the hon. Jennifer Alinsky who will play a larger part in the book to the final scenes. My main concern is politics, I know next to nothing about American politics, especially the lingo involved, so I had to study it. I was hoping fir some feedback from any Americans concerning the passage I wrote. A matter of desperation really because learning this stuff online and knowing it us ok, are two different things. I want to get the politics as correct as possible. The passage in chapter five goes like this:

 

23.

Congressional Cross-Examination Senate Subcommittee
U.S. Capitol Building

For Senator Jennifer Alinsky, it was just another day in the office. For everyone else, who had been allowed to attend the subcommittee, a day of reckoning for those who worked in the sordid details of homeland security. 
She was a late participant in this trial: Agents of the homeland security, especially the secretary, had been accused of keeping information about occurances of unidentified flying objects in the U.S. airspace, especially round sensitive military bases across the country.
Senator Alinsky, a sharp-tounged viper, but highly liked among her peers, had been called in to get progress in the cross-examination of the secretary of the homeland security, which had been stalling in the last few months, due to the witness not answering questions on the nature of the investigation.
After the secretary had sworn oath in front of congress, the hon. senator Alinsky jumped into action, hoping to make light work of the issue, which concerned leaked documents on sensative information concerning the complaints filed by the military on the UFO's. Each one had been personally accounted and signed by the secretary of homeland security.
"This subpoena-infused partisan charade is an embarrassment for our country and while the issue of information classification due to national security is not questioned, there is some information which should be shared to officials on a broader range and the sharing of certain important information is just as much in the national interest of homeland security. Now, I believe my fellow congressmen and women, have been asking some pertinent questions on this issue. One question has been specifically dodged on numerous occasions. That one question still remains of particular interest, so I'm going to ask this question again to give your good self a chance to clear up any misconceptions we might have concerning how this matter is being dealt with on an official level. So without further ado, can you please explain to me how the homeland security and the NSA have dealt with the handling of certain classified information outside the scope of congress? Can you also explain to us the general consensus of opinion on, and I qoute, 'the acute phenomena of unidentified aerial objects,' and the intramural actions of those in your facility concerning the handling of that information."
The secretary nodded his head and replied, "They have different focuses in which the NSA is a high-technological intelligence and counterintelligence agency which inexorably gathers communications and digital intelligence from foreign nations and terrorist organizations. It's always within their purview, in short, to deal with any natural disaster threats and events and non-natural threats to the people of the U.S. I can't go into specifics of how the agencies are dealing with this, or express the general viewpoints of others, or go into detail about how the information is progressed, if it is at all."
The senator smiled, "Your response isn't optional due to the powers of legislation in the subpoena, you must answer the questions posed to you, because it's within the interests of congress that certain information be shared with manditory parties."
She spoke with great authority, in her thick southern accent.
"I really can't answer your questions," the secretary informed the senator, taking a glance at the chairman who was overseeing the hearing, "The legislation does not have authority in this manner, you're asking about state secrets that are outside the jurisdiction of this subcomittee."
The jolt of his statement had various people muttering from the back. Shocked herself at the blatant refusal to answer the question, the senator just looked at her collegues in amazement. She shuffled over to one of her collegues, whispered into his ear, and the colleague looked down at his papers and whispered something back, to which Alinsky nodded her head, "All due respect mister secretary, but you'll understand why this might be strange ground for congress, we're not used to people like you refusing to answer a few questions. Are you saying you answer to a law which we are not privy to?"
The secretary shook his head, "No of course not, but a lot of the information I deal with, is a matter of national security, which a lot of it is regarded as top secret, mam."
She shook her shoulders, in front of everyone, as a reaction to losing any grip she thought she had in the matter and could only propose the most extreme punishment, "I will hold you in contempt of congress, mister secretary. We're not asking about details that would put anyones lives at risk, as congress, we are acting within out rights to summon you on a matter that troubles us all. Contrary to what you might believe, that is within our jurisdiction."
She paused, weighing everything in, then continued, "But I'm not going to hold you in contempt today. I'm going to give time for our factions to discuss these things in a more private way with yours. Congress does have powers to investigate these matters, just enough that it doesn't cross any figurative lines with the legislation of national security. Keep in mind mister secretary, this isn't over. Congress is deeply worried about reports of unidentified aerial phenomena that may be intercepting controlled airspace. It's controlled for a reason.  I've got to pull the strings on the matter and make communucations more accessible, keeping state secrets is one thing. Protecting technology from countries spying on us is another. Perhaps for the sake of national security the chairman will allow a closed session."
A senator T. Grayling cut into the discussion, "Pardon me, for a moment Miss Alinsky, I have a question for the secretary."
"By all means," Alinsky replied.
He looked at the files in front of him, scoring under a set of dates and said, "This is the third session of congress on this matter and each time you refused to give evidence to help clarify any mystery behind this subject. Last time, congress asked if you could elaborate on the subject. You told this pannel that the subject was being investigated retroactive to the subpoena. We asked you who was investigating it and what was the general conclusion, and you refused to answer the questions. Am I right in believing that the agency you work for has effectively told you that discussion of the subject was prohibited?"
"Yes sir." 
The senator continued on that admission, "And who is in charge of that information? Let me put it another way, you are the secretary of homeland security, who has authority over you, concerning how information is cherry picked and consequently released?"
"I can't say sir."
"You can't or you won't?"
The secretary, strung on how to reply, answered in the only way he could, "I'm not at liberty to divulge such answers senator, I don't either have authority to release that kind of information."
At this point, the chairman, known as senator J. Rusco intervened, to the delight of the secretary who was feeling the ever growing frustration from the congress, "Ok I'm going to call a closed session on this, from now on we will extrapolate the investigation under these terms. Hopefully we can get some kind of closure behind closed doors, so-to-say. A time for another meeting will be set using the motion given by the sovereign powers of this panel. Congressional meeting is adjourned."

24.

As always, after a congressional session, the elite few on the panel would meet in the southwest wing of the United States Capitol in Washington. There, the lawlords would discuss the outcome of any dealings in congress. Alinsky was verbally attacked by Thomas Grayling openly in front of their colleagues. It wasn't a huge surprise. While congress rarely squabble among themselves during a live session, it wasn't an unheard phenomenon of senators disagreeing in the aftermath about certain actions that took place.
"What the hell are you doing letting him off so easily," Grayling pressed Alinsky, "We called you in because we thought you could-"
Alinsky shut him off by finishing his sentance, "To do the dirty work that you are so incapable of doing yourself?"
"That's not what I was going to say!"
"No maybe not? But that is what was going through my head."
The senator who had been beside Alinsky and was part of the deliberation  butted in, "You whispered in my ear, whether congress could hold him accountable to contempt, why did you ask this if you were not going to act on it?"
"And you said we had sovereign power, powers we can decide therefore not to act on it," she replied, "Put it this way, ladies and gents, if there are state secrets protected by law, then the secretary was correct not to answer us. Do you want our investigation to close because of mistrial?"
"You were too easy on him, he's been evading crucial questions now for three sessions," Grayling replied.
Alinsky smiled and put her hands up, "Which is why I suggested a closed session. I really get the impression some of you are incapable of following the law on this one. It's an open and shut case in this respect, as he wasn't taking the fifth, nor was he refusing to answer questions with any impunity, only that he couldn't openly do so, because of the laws imposed on him. That means those same laws apply to us. Our faction will contact the national security board of advisors for information on the case at hand, but it cannot be done in an interrogatory way. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

You are missing that the different political parties would have different views and try to block each other, there would be much discussion of the situation along party lines with alot of fighting between the democratic and republican party's members that are senators, along with each would have a slightly different views on the situation. The Republican senators may embrace the national security implications however the democratic senators may have a different motive and view about the situation. The Left and Right parties do not usually get along, but also you would have moderate senators aswell that swing slightly left or right. You need to reflect that they all have political agendas as well the senators. It's not exactly that it is one "United" Congress on subjects.

Edited August 12, 2021 by VictorMedvil

[Dubbelosix]

That's extremely helpful, thank you.

[Vmedvil2]

1 hour ago, Dubbelosix said:

That's extremely helpful, thank you.

Also it is a two party system  basically and democrats versus republicans have a platform of beliefs about subjects

Democratic Party Platform, link = https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/

Republican Party Platform, link = https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_FINAL[1]-ben_1468872234.pdf

Edited August 12, 2021 by VictorMedvil

[Dubbelosix]

In such a case, the terminology would be bipartisan?

[Vmedvil2]

12 minutes ago, Dubbelosix said:

In such a case, the terminology would be bipartisan?

ya there are other minor political parties but basically the democrats and republicans hold the most clout, but ya bipartisan would be the proper term when they agree with each other which is rare.

Used in a sentence: The issue was bipartisan both democrats and republicans agreed that China was a threat to national security.

Edited August 12, 2021 by VictorMedvil