John Culberson

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. No, I am not yielding the balance of my time. I am just asking a question. I am quite confident Mr. Grayson always kept those negotiations secret. That is all that is being kept secret here. And it is actually not secret because Members of Congress can go read the text of the trade agreement that is being negotiated. And if any of us have any sort of an objection, that is a good time to raise it, to tell the Trade Representative that we think this or that provision is going to either be in violation of Federal law or cause a problem for American industry and we think you ought to drop it. So you have actually got an opportunity to have your 2 cents' worth heard during the course of the negotiation. So I would urge Members to oppose Mr. Grayson's amendment for the same reason that Mr. Grayson always kept his settlement negotiations confidential on behalf of his clients. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. I object. We are limited to 5 minutes and it is 12:30 at night.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I think Mr. Grayson's answer confirms that he did not ever disclose a negotiated settlement before it was final, and that is just common sense. And here, under trade promotion authority, the trade agreement, as it is being negotiated, needs to be kept confidential. But any Member of Congress can go in and see it and have our voices heard, object, suggest changes to it, as it is being negotiated. And then once it is finalized the text must be made available to the public 90 days before the President signs the agreement, and then either House of Congress can void the agreement by a majority vote. We are going to have this debate, and I urge Members to oppose this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. CULBERSON. Of course.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I do want to express my support for the gentleman's amendment. I think it is very important that we restrict this or any other President's ability to enter into agreements that would interfere with our rights as Americans, would interfere with the laws as enacted by Congress. And that is the intent of your amendment, to ensure that the laws enacted by Congress or by the legislatures of the several States reign supreme and no President can enter into any kind of an agreement. We are not going to subject ourselves to the law of the U.N. or any of these other agreements in here. So I strongly support the gentleman's agreement. I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah).

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

Mr. CULBERSON. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I do want to express my support for the gentleman's amendment. I am concerned about the efforts of this White House to repeatedly ignore the laws enacted by Congress. If we didn't have this track record from this President who has made a deliberate effort to evade the laws written by Congress and attempted to bypass them at every opportunity--the President has lost a record number of cases before the Supreme Court. I believe, Mr. Marino, the Supreme Court has ruled against the President unanimously on repeated occasions when the White House has attempted to avoid a statute and refused to enforce it, and Mr. Marino brings to the table tonight experience as a prosecutor, very valid concerns about granting clemency to a whole category of people rather than as in the case of a pardon, which is on an individual basis. I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chair, I want to express my strong support for Chairman Goodlatte's amendment. The words he has chosen have been chosen very carefully. A donation or contribution is just that. It is a gift. It is a donation. If the money is paid in compensation for an injury as a result of a claim, it is not covered. So the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary has written this very carefully and very narrowly to address a very real problem. I strongly support the gentleman's amendment and have worked with him and his staff on it. I really, genuinely appreciate the good work that your staff has done, Mr. Chairman, in working with you to find common ground. This is one of those areas that I believe we are doing good public policy. I strongly support the gentleman's amendment and urge its adoption.

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

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

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chair, with that, I would urge all Members to oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chair, I reserve a point of order on the amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. And we can do that through oversight, and we will work very closely with you, Judge Poe, on this. And I thank you for your work on this effort. There is no penalty severe enough that can be imposed swiftly enough on anyone who would injure a woman or a child. I understand the amendment is going to be withdrawn.

Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chair, I reserve a point of order against the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. I want to, if I could, express my support for the ranking member's comments, but I do need to assert the point of order.

Mr. CULBERSON. If the gentleman withdraws the amendment, I withdraw my point of order.

Mr. CULBERSON. I reserve my point of order. Once the gentleman withdraws, I will withdraw the point of order, but we do need to conclude this. We will work together with Mr. Fattah on juvenile justice to keep young people out of prison.

Mr. CULBERSON. I reserve the point of order. I will withdraw its assertion at this time, but I reserve it pending the gentleman's conclusion and withdrawal of the amendment.

Mr. CULBERSON. I strongly support this amendment. It is important that these trade agreements not be negotiated in ways that would supersede the authority of this Congress. Any limitation on greenhouse gases should be debated in this Congress and enacted by Congress and should not be any part of any trade agreement. So I strongly support the gentleman's amendment in the same spirit that we have got language in this bill that prohibits use of funds to negotiate or to implement the U.N. arms control treaty, which would interfere with our Second Amendment rights. We have prohibited that. We have shut down the U.N. arms control treaty in this bill. Similarly, let's shut down any attempt to impose greenhouse gas limits on the United States through a trade agreement. I strongly support the gentleman's amendment and urge Members to vote ``yes.''

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I would like to reiterate that I agree with the gentleman from Georgia. This does not change existing law. It simply states that if you expect to receive Federal money, you need to be in compliance with Federal law. It is pretty straight up.

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

Mr. CULBERSON. I claim the time in opposition.