def get(self, uri, params=dict()):
        "GET data from the URI. Return the response XML as an ElementTree."
        try:
            r = self.request_session.get(uri, params=params,
                                         auth=(self.username, self.password),
                                         headers=dict(accept='application/xml'),
                                         timeout=TIMEOUT)
        except requests.exceptions.Timeout as e:
            raise type(e)("{0}, Error trying to reach {1}".format(str(e), uri))

        else:
            return self.parse_response(r)