John Culberson

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. CULBERSON. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. It is drafted far too broadly. And I would point out that in a grand jury proceeding--those that occur in the District of Columbia, for example, are done under the auspices of the Department of Justice, and that is a Federal grand jury proceeding. A journalist would not have the privilege of protecting the confidentiality of his sources because in a grand jury everything that is discussed is absolutely confidential. I also, frankly, think it is astonishing that under Mr. Grayson's amendment a journalist has the ability to self-certify what is confidential and what is not. I certainly agree with the principle of a strong and free press, but Mr. Grayson's amendment is written far too broadly and, frankly, would not provide protection to a journalist in a grand jury setting. I think he has neglected that problem. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), the chair of the Judiciary Committee, to also speak in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with the chairman of the Judiciary Committee to ensure that these prisoners are not released. I will work diligently with my colleague from Philadelphia to find additional funds as we move forward in the process. The last thing we want is these people being released. It has been a privilege for me to work with you and your staff. I am very privileged to follow in the footsteps of your colleague from Virginia, Frank Wolf, who was chairman of the CJS Subcommittee, and I have continued that close working relationship. We will do everything we can to find funding to make sure that these Federal prisoners are not released early. That is a subject near and dear to my heart. I am very sensitive to it. We had a Federal judge in Texas running our prisons for 25 years, William Wayne Justice; and I sued him, as a State representative, to end his control over the prisons because one of the main things he was doing was causing the early release of prisoners to go victimize Texans, which is utterly unacceptable. So this is a top priority. I will work with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah).

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the following Members be removed as cosponsors of the bill, H.R. 1909: Mr. Farenthold of Texas, Mr. Hensarling of Texas, Mr. Huelskamp of Kansas, and Mr. Thornberry of Texas.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chair, I was unavoidably detained this morning and unable to vote on rollcalls 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, and 213. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcalls 208, 209, 211, 212, and 213. I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall 210.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, today, April 13, marks the birthday of Thomas Jefferson--America's third President and one of our greatest-- who was responsible in so many ways for the creation of this great Nation. Thomas Jefferson said on his very simple tombstone at Monticello that he was the author of the American Declaration of Independence, the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and the father of the University of Virginia--those things that, in his mind, he had done for the United States rather than those things that the people of the United States had done for him. Thomas Jefferson always felt that his greatest achievement throughout his life was the preservation of the American Republic--our system of separation of powers, of checks and balances. Above all, he believed very strongly in, all power not given to the Federal Government is reserved to the States and the people respectively. That great, good man was born on this day, April 13, 1743, and I hope that the Congress of the United States and the people of the United States will continue to honor his legacy by preserving and protecting this great inheritance, the American Republic, with its separation of powers and its recognition that all power is reserved to the States or to the people respectively.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I believe this debate over the funding for the Department of Homeland Security represents a pivotal moment in the history of the United States because it will, I think, determine whether or not we will continue to be a nation of laws and whether or not we will preserve the American Republic left to us by our Founders. I always remember that as Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, a woman asked him: What kind of government have you given us, Dr. Franklin? And he said: A republic--if you can keep it. My hero and mentor, Thomas Jefferson, always said that a government was republican only in proportion to the extent that it embodied the will of the people. This past November, the people of the United States decisively and overwhelmingly rejected the policies of Barack Obama and the Democrat Party. President Obama said: I am not on the ballot, but my policies are. And the country spoke decisively and with one voice from coast to coast and said: We are done. We want our elected officials to enforce the law. We want our borders secure. We want to ensure that America maintains its supremacy around the world. We want our American economy to continue to grow. We want the government out of our lives, out of our way, out of our pocket, and off our backs. We have done this in Texas so successfully over the years. Because of the strength and the diversity of our economy in Texas, the economy in Texas has continued to grow, and the people of Texas have elected a Republican Governor, a Republican Lieutenant Governor, a Republican senate, and a Republican house, and they embody the will of the people of Texas. The minority party in Texas, the Democrats in the senate, continued to block the will of the people of Texas, and the new Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick, changed the rules because the people of Texas insisted they wanted to see a government that reflected their will, that would enforce the law, secure the border, and preserve peace and prosperity because we all understand that without law enforcement you can't have good schools, safe streets, and a strong economy. This is just common sense. The people who live along the Rio Grande River understand better than anybody in Texas that if you don't have a secure border and if you don't enforce the law, then the streets aren't safe, you can't have good schools, and you can't have a strong economy. Laredo is the largest inland port in the United States. They depend more than anyone else on a secure border, safe streets, and good schools. So the people of Texas decisively rejected the policies of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, yet the Democrat minority in the senate continued to block the will of the people so our Lieutenant Governor changed the rules. Mr. Speaker, I would call on Leader McConnell to reflect the will of the people of America and change the rules of the United States Senate just as we did in Texas. The people of America have spoken decisively. They rejected the policies of Barack Obama and the Democrat Party. They expect this Congress to see that the law is enforced, that we respect the separation of powers, and that laws are enacted by the people's elected representatives. Change the rules, Mr. Leader, as we did in Texas, and make sure that no minority can block the will of the people. Make sure that our laws are enforced, that the border is secure, and that no one person can enact laws with the stroke of a pen. Laws are enacted here in the people's House in the Congress of the United States. The people of America voted overwhelmingly to reject the policies of Barack Obama. Mr. Speaker, it is time for the Congress to embody the will of the American people, enforce the law, and stop the policies of Barack Obama that the people just decisively rejected. Let's follow the lead of Texas. Change the rules in the Senate, Mr. Leader. By the way, make the Democrat Senators stand up and filibuster. Let's have a real filibuster. Make them stand up there for 18, 24, 34, 48 hours. Make them stand up there as long as it takes. If they are going to have a filibuster, do it as we do in Texas. Enforce the law, follow the will of the American people, and do what we were elected to do--to preserve this great American Republic handed down to us, this precious inheritance handed down to us by the Founding Fathers, and let's honor the hope of Benjamin Franklin that we would preserve this great American Republic.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I want to ask, if I could, for the chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee to engage in a colloquy with me concerning the importance of ensuring the Federal Government does not interfere with States' rights over public education.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I believe there is no constitutional role for the Federal Government in education. However, I understand that the funds under this act are accepted voluntarily by each State, but I am concerned that State bureaucrats often simply accept these funds and all the strings without any input from our constituents or locally elected officials. I saw this in the Texas House. I very much appreciate that the gentleman from Indiana and Chairman Kline worked with me to protect the 10th Amendment and to ensure that States knowingly accept the strings attached to these programs before they receive any funding under this bill. I want to be clear that this provision simply ensures that locally elected officials, parents, and other interested stakeholders have the opportunity to stand up and voice concern or support for accepting Federal funding at their State capital before any unelected, unaccountable bureaucrat can accept that money and all the strings that come with them. I want to ask if the chairman concurs that this is the intent and the result of the language that you have included in the Student Success Act?

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for protecting the 10th Amendment rights of the States to control their public school system and affirming a parents' right to control their child's education. I appreciate you confirming the intent of this amendment. It will mean a far greater role for States and parents in their child's education.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chair, under the logic of the minority we have heard tonight, it would be that the President has taken this action because of the inaction of Congress in order to fix a broken immigration system. Under that logic, President George W. Bush would have been within his rightful authority, in order to fix a broken economy, to refuse to collect the capital gains tax, just to issue an executive order, a memorandum by the director of the IRS: Do not collect the capital gains tax, the capital gains tax is now effectively zero, no matter what the law says, to fix a broken economy. I would also point out to my colleagues in the minority that the examples that we have heard tonight of previous Presidents taking action are all based on the President's very broad authority under the war powers, under his authority as Commander in Chief, and also his authority to make treaties and receive foreign ambassadors. In fact, the Supreme Court, Madam Chair, has said that the President is essentially the sole organ of the Federal Government in the field of international relations; so the authority of other Presidents in the past who have taken these actions, they have done so under their authority as Commander in Chief in the area of foreign affairs. We in the House tonight, the new Republican majority in the House, are listening to the voters. We are responding to the overwhelming rejection of President Obama's policies by the American people. Two short months ago, when President Obama said his policies were on the ballot, America answered and said ``no'' and elected the largest Republican majority since the 1920s to stop President Obama from dismantling the America we know and love, to stop President Obama from ignoring the law and the Constitution. We in the House are using our authority to be good stewards of our taxpayers' hard-earned tax dollars. Our system of checks and balances gives us that authority, our responsibility, to prevent our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars from being spent for illegal purposes. The first amendment we are taking up tonight is one step of many in this bill tonight. We are taking up a whole series of amendments as steps to keep our word that we are listening to the American voters. The first amendment is one based on a bill that I am proud to coauthor with Chairman Aderholt and other Members of the House that dismantles and defunds the President's illegal executive amnesty memos. We have further taken action in this bill tonight to have the highest number of border patrol agents we have ever had before, keeping a minimum of 34,000 beds--detention beds--available for the purpose of enforcing the law. The second critical part of this bill, Madam Chair, is that the Republican House is enforcing the law. This is a law enforcement issue because we understand in Texas, better than any other part of the Nation, you cannot have good schools, safe streets, and a strong economy without law enforcement. We all know that our economy on the river, on the Rio Grande, is fundamental that the law be enforced to keep out the drug runners and the smugglers and the gunrunners and the criminals. No one has a stronger interest in safe streets and good schools and laws being enforced than those folks that live along the southern border. President Obama's got this responsibility and he has refused to fulfill his constitutional responsibility as Commander in Chief to execute the laws faithfully. The House of Representatives is doing our job and honoring our word to the American people to preserve, protect, and defend the America we love by enforcing the law.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Today, Mr. Speaker, the Republican House takes an important step in restoring the trust of the American people in their elected Representatives and in restoring the rule of law in our Nation. Two of the most important principles underlying our entire system of government are trust and the rule of law. The American people in the election last November decisively rejected the aggressive, liberal agenda of this President and of the Democrats in Congress. They elected this Republican majority to stop the President from doing further damage to our system of laws and further damage to our Constitution. The American people elected us to preserve and protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, but that work begins with trust. We, today, are doing what the voters of America asked us to do in enforcing our laws on the border to ensure that our laws are respected, to ensure that our immigration law is fair, and that it treats everyone equally as the Constitution requires. We are keeping our word to the American people to do precisely what we said we would do, and that is to overturn these illegal executive memos that are attempting to ignore what the law says the President must do. Not even King George III had the authority to waive a law enacted by the Parliament. Mr. Speaker, once we have begun this path today of restoring that bond of trust, we will restore the rule of law in America because, without the law, there is no liberty. In fact, the first design on one of the first coins ever minted in the Republic of Mexico, a coin which I have here with me, shows the liberty cap--liberty and law. There is no liberty without law enforcement, and the House today is doing what the American people hired us to do: to restore their trust and to restore the rule of law. This is a law enforcement issue. Border security and immigration, these are matters of law enforcement. We trust the good hearts and the good sense of the officers in the field to do the right thing for the right reasons, which is to enforce our laws fairly and equally, because the people on the Rio Grande understand better than anyone else that if the law is not enforced, there cannot be safe streets and that you cannot have good schools and a strong economy without law enforcement. We in Texas understand better than anyone else that this debate is far larger than it just being about immigration or border security. It is far larger than just these individual issues we will debate today. Today, we in the Republican House are honoring the will of the American people. We will keep our word. We will make sure that the laws of the United States are enforced equally and fairly for all. Above all, we will preserve and protect the Constitution and the America that we know and love. That was the message of the election last November.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Appropriations be discharged from further consideration of H.J. Res. 131, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, time is short this evening, but it is such a privilege to be here to honor Ralph Hall. Proverbs tell us that our good name is worth more than all the gold and silver on Earth, and that is certainly true of Ralph Hall, someone who I immediately bonded with when I came to Congress in 2001. Ralph has been a mentor, teacher, and a dear, good friend. I could always--as we all could--count on Ralph to do the right things for the right reasons and be a man of his word. His first priority throughout his time here was to do right by the State of Texas. As Lamar said so ably, Ralph always believed it is better to be respected at home and make sure the folks there knew what a good job he was doing for them. It was a real privilege for me to be able to serve with that good man. We will surely miss him. What a privilege to be here tonight to honor him on this special evening.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I have heard several of my Democratic colleagues tonight say this bill does not reflect American values. I am disappointed to hear them say that because it really reflects a fundamental, probably one of the most fundamental differences between our two parties, as we on our side as Republicans believe in the most important American value and that is enforcement. The first design on the first coin minted in the Republic of Mexico after the Revolution said: Liberty in the Law. We all understand as lawmakers, as Americans, that there can be no liberty without law enforcement. The bill before us tonight is very simple, this is not complicated. This is a law enforcement issue. This is a law enforcement bill. Without respect for the law there can be no liberty, without respect for the law there can be no peace and quiet, there can be no prosperity. My good friend Henry Cuellar, who represents the city of Laredo, whom I served with in the Texas legislature, understands better than most that, because Laredo is the largest inland port in the United States, his constituents need law and order in order to be prosperous, to be able to trade with Mexico, our most important trading partner. That relationship with Mexico is essential to the Texas economy, to the United States economy, and for that relationship to thrive there must be law and order, there must be respect for the law, and there must be peace and quiet on the streets of Laredo so children can play in the streets, so people don't have to worry about whether or not they can send their kids down to the corner store, whether or not they can thrive in the future. It is a tragedy what has happened in Nuevo Laredo. One of the most beautiful cities on the border is now essentially a ghost town because there is no respect for the law. The bill before us tonight that the Republican majority has put together reflects our core value as Americans to respect the law, to enforce the law, with a kind heart and commonsense. We believe in the good judgment of our law enforcement officers and our National Guardsmen to use their good hearts and their commonsense as Americans to distinguish between the widow and her child who is escaping a terrible situation at home. We are trusting the good hearts and good sense of our immigration officers to know the difference between a tattooed criminal and a drug dealer and a smuggler, and the child who has come here innocently, brought up in the trust the President of the United States has made inviting them all up here. It is a tragedy for them, it is a tragedy for our border communities, it is a tragedy for the country to let these folks come into the country. This is a law enforcement issue, it is a law enforcement bill. I encourage folks to vote ``yes.''

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, the heartbreaking stories my colleagues are telling about these young people coming across the border and being exploited and hurt and injured just confirm the wisdom of the approach the Republicans have taken to this problem based on common sense and long experience. It is called law enforcement. This is not complicated. In order to protect these kids, protect the people of the United States, protect the communities along the border, we believe strongly in enforcing the existing law and in ensuring that the people of the United States are protected against the lawlessness: the drug dealers, the cartels, the smugglers, the gun runners who are coming across the border and exploiting these kids. This is not a complicated problem. It has worked for years in Texas. We understand the border problem. It is simply a matter of law enforcement. No nation can survive that doesn't secure its borders and enforce its laws. By enforcing the law and by bringing peace and quiet to the border, you will also ensure that free trade--that legal trade back and forth between Mexico, our biggest trading partner--can proceed as it should. Laredo is the largest inland port in the United States, and in order for businesses to do their jobs, they have got to have peace and quiet, and that means law enforcement. That is the Republican approach to this problem. Enforce the law.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Houston Jewelry, a Houston family-owned and operated business since 1866, which has specialized in diamonds and fine jewelry since 1953. A true ``Texas Treasure,'' this jewelry store can trace its history all the way back to the family's general store on Main Street. The Donsky-Solomon family is now in its fifth generation of active management of the business. The history of this family store mirrors that of Texas itself. What started out as a frontier general store in the young, burgeoning town of Houston, grew and matured to become one of ``America's Best Couture Jewelers'' and a multiple winner of the Better Business Bureau of Houston's Award for Excellence. Like the city of Houston, from humble beginnings, the store owned by the Donsky-Solomon family has now earned national and international recognition. From the sale of staple and fancy dry goods to fine jewelry through catalog and online sales, each generation has enhanced the business it inherited. Weathering storms, economic busts, and national depressions, Houston Jewelry has been a steadfast testament to the power of determination, innovation, and family bonds. Their contributions to Houston are unquestioned, and I wish them continued success.