Doug Collins

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Well, I appreciate it. It's always easy to follow in the footsteps of those who fought the fight before us, and I appreciate what you've done and what others have done. We're going to continue that fight, because this matters to Americans, and that's what we've got to continue on. So I thank you for being here tonight. It is now with great pleasure, another freshman who has come from just north of me in North Carolina, who has passionately fought for his constituents but also sees this from a different perspective, at this time, I want to yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Holding).

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I thank the gentleman from Indiana. I think you bring up a great point, and that's the issue of an unelected bureaucracy that is forcing sometimes businesses who just want to create, want to expand, and want to do those things. I appreciate your interest in this, and we are going to continue this fight because this matters to real people. This matters to Main Street. And when we matter to Main Street, then people understand what we're trying to do up here, and I think they then begin to have confidence that Washington has their best interest at heart.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in another of a series of Republican freshman class Special Orders, this time to focus on our Nation's need for regulatory reform and regulatory relief. As an American and a parent, I value the role of responsible regulations. Many regulations were designed with personal safety in mind, and these regulations make our workforce stronger. All too often, however, the Federal Government designs regulations that are often unnecessary and achieve little or no benefit at a very high cost. These regulations directly impact the hardworking men and women of northeast Georgia and across the Nation. Over the next hour, my colleagues and I will discuss the growing problem of regulation and why our Nation's economy so desperately needs regulatory relief. I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the president of our freshman class, my dear friend and a tireless worker on this issue as well, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Messer).

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of my Special Order.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I thank the gentleman from North Carolina. What we're dealing with here is dealing with jobs. And I think what you shared in your time back in the district is small businesses, as we've seen, small business persons comprise 44 percent of the total U.S. private payroll and create more than half of the nonfarm jobs in the gross domestic product here. We've got to look at this. This is something that I think we can all come together, as the gentleman from Indiana stated just a few moments ago, this could be a bipartisan issue as we look to jobs and things we can bring to the floor. I know in talking to you and your passion about this, we came up here to try and help. We came up here to bring the voices of those who could not be up here on a given day to help them in their businesses and work hard. I appreciate you so much for sharing your experiences in North Carolina. Really, what we're doing is fighting hard against these regulations so that we can see more jobs created.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, my friends on the other side of the aisle like to refer to the House majority as the Party of No. And do you know what? I'm okay with that. We've said no to unending and out-of-control spending and passed a budget that balances in 10 years. We've said no to the largest tax increase in history and repealed ObamaCare. We said no to fraud and political games and demanded answers from the Internal Revenue Service. We've said no to the fact that four Americans in Benghazi are dead and we will not rest until we have answers. We've said no to the tax more, spend more, save less, Big Government, job killing machine that is crushing the American spirit and our economic growth. We've replaced government growth and regulations with reform. We have restored transparency and trust. We're giving our Nation a reason to believe that one day our children won't be looking for a job, they will be creating jobs. America was founded by patriots who said no to the tyrannical government that was crushing their freedom and economic future. And America's future rests in the hands of those who will carry on the torch of freedom to protect the future of their children and grandchildren. America's future rests in the hands of those who are sometimes willing to say no.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I offer this amendment to ensure that none of the funds in this bill may be used in violation of section 236(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This amendment prohibits the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement from using taxpayer dollars to process the release of or to administer alternate forms of detention to illegal immigrants who committed a crime that mandates their incarceration under section 236(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Section 236(c) requires the Federal Government to detain illegal aliens who committed any one of the serious crimes detailed in that section until that illegal alien is deported to their home country. In my home State of Georgia, ICE has processed the release of criminal aliens under the guise of sequestration. Along with the fellow members of the Georgia delegation, I have written to DHS and ICE on two separate occasions requesting more information about the releases. To date, DHS and ICE have failed to provide basic information regarding the criminal aliens released in Georgia. We don't know how many criminal aliens were released and to where. We don't know what crimes they committed prior to detention, and we don't know what forms of alternatives to detention ICE is using to ensure they don't commit additional crimes. Mr. Chairman, this is unacceptable. Our Nation was founded on the rule of law, and I do not believe taxpayer dollars should ever be used to circumvent the law. I appreciate the men and women who work for ICE and have great respect for the work they do and the sacrifices they make. This amendment ensures that political agendas won't interfere with the need to protect innocent citizens from criminal illegal aliens. The Federal Government should enforce immigration law, particularly section 236(c), that mandates the detention of dangerous criminal illegal aliens. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to prohibit taxpayer funds from being used in violation of section 236(c), and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Westmoreland).

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I must reluctantly oppose this amendment. I do not want to minimize in the least the unacceptable nature of the present state of affairs, and I do not want to minimize in the least the brute fact that a murderer is presently escaping justice. I also do not want to minimize the service that this man gave to our country. As a chaplain in the Air Force and as a pastor for over 11 years, it has been, unfortunately, my duty on many occasions to have to deliver news of one who has either been killed in action or of one who has died tragically. With that, my heart bleeds and my heart hurts for this family. In this situation, I commend my friend from across the aisle for his dedication to bringing this person to justice; and right now there is the inescapable fact of a problem going on. However, the remedy proposed by the author of this amendment raises issues of such magnitude that they need to be resolved through regular order, through the Judiciary Committee's hearing and markup process. I, personally, pledge to work with Mr. Ryan to examine in the Judiciary Committee the issues of foreign nations' compliance with extradition requests. On behalf of Chairman Goodlatte, I pledge to examine the possibility of withdrawing the right of nationals of non- cooperating countries to enter the U.S. Certainly, our Crime Subcommittee has the expertise on the extradition issue and the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee has the expertise on immigration. This is not the first time we have faced such troubling issues. For instance, it is very often the case that foreign nations refuse to accept the return of their citizens who have been ordered deported to the U.S. The DHS' Office of Inspector General reported: As of June 2004, more than 133,662 illegal aliens with or pending final orders of removal had been apprehended and released into the United States . . . unlikely to ever be repatriated if ordered removed because of the unwillingness of their countries of origin to provide the documents necessary for repatriation. Some of those aliens, from countries such as China, have gone on to kill Americans once released. Last Congress, the Judiciary Committee considered legislation by Mr. Poe that would have withheld temporary visas from nationals of countries that would not accept back their deported citizens. It is important to note that the legislation would not have just impacted a single foreign country, but would have penalized all bad actors on an equal basis. I do need to mention that there are also humanitarian concerns with implementing this amendment. In 2012, over 11,000 Brazilians received green cards--immigrant visas. Among these Brazilians were 8,000 ``immediate relatives'' of U.S. citizens--the spouses, minor children and parents of U.S. citizens. So we just have to keep in mind that by enacting this amendment we would be preventing thousands of U.S. citizens from reuniting with their Brazilian spouses, children, and parents. Again, it is with a hurt heart that I have to rise in opposition to this amendment, but the good intentions of the gentleman from across the aisle do not override the larger concerns when dealing with this proposition in the issue of your amendment. So with that and for these reasons I have set out, I must oppose this amendment, but I do look forward to working to resolve this distressing situation with the author. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation. I have a personal take on this. I have a 17-year-old son, Copeland, and my wife and I are in the process of guiding him through the difficult and often complex process of choosing a higher education institution to attend. As families across America know, there are a lot of factors to consider when assessing what institution will provide my son with the best opportunity to graduate college and be set on a path to professionally succeed. In this economy, our children deserve the best possible chance we can give them to find jobs that will allow them to provide for themselves and their future families. The key to good decisionmaking is having accurate information, and this legislation will provide my son Copeland and all of the other students of northeast Georgia with the best possible data that they and their parents can use to select the right postsecondary education paths for them. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill, and I would like to thank the gentleman from Indiana for his leadership. The nature in which we bring this forward is a positive solution for our country and is a positive solution for the families looking at this decision of higher education.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I appreciate you yielding on this. And I appreciate not only the gentlewoman from Indiana, but the gentlewoman from Hawaii for bringing this legislation. I bring a little bit different perspective to this. As a chaplain in the military and working with our heroes who have been wounded and coming from bodies that were strong and healthy and vibrant to a situation in which now they're put in a position that they've never been in, in some ways a dependency, and counseling in those roles and seeing them having to go through this process, which is inconsistent and frankly unfair, I think this is the reason I strongly support this legislation. But I also support it from a different perspective. Having a daughter who has been in a wheelchair since she was able to walk--as we call it, ``roll''--she's never known anything different. And so we've had to adjust over time, and she's adjusted in ways of going through screenings and going through processes like that. But when you balance what our wounded warriors have done, heroes who came home who had healthy bodies and now have bodies that are not healthy, this is something that will provide them a measure of dignity--and it is an honor to stand here and support this legislation--because I believe that an inconsistency in this area is an inconsistency in what we believe as Americans in what those men and women have done for us. We have to remember that in times of war now it is not like it used to be where these men and women would actually have died on the battlefield. Now they're coming home. They're coming home to lead productive lives, great lives, because of the sacrifices that they have made. It is time that we--and this legislation proves this--stand for them in the fairness that they deserve for what they have given to us. I congratulate the gentlewoman from Hawaii and also the gentlewoman from Indiana for sponsoring this. I look forward to voting for it, and encourage my colleagues to do so.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor two brave Federal law enforcement officers who lost their lives during a training accident last Friday. Christopher Lorek and Stephen Shaw were both members of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team. This elite unit has taken part in more than 800 hostage situations over the last two decades. Members of the Hostage Rescue Team dedicate their lives to training for critical terrorist, hostage, and criminal situations. Most recently, the team successfully rescued a 5-year-old boy held hostage by a 65-year-old man in Alabama. Both Christopher Lorek and Stephen Shaw spent many years serving their Nation by putting themselves at risk for others who were in danger. Tragically, they died during a maritime counterterrorism exercise their team was performing off the coast of Virginia Beach. Both these men leave behind young families, and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones during this difficult time.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 1073, the Nuclear Terrorism Conventions Implementation and Safety of Maritime Navigation Act of 2013, is bipartisan legislation to ratify certain counterterrorism treaty obligations. This legislation was reported by voice vote from the Judiciary Committee last month. Similar legislation was unanimously reported by the committee and passed the House by voice vote also last Congress. Terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction do not recognize international boundaries. These treaties are important tools in the fight against terrorism. Each one builds on an existing treaty to which the United States is a party. The treaties and this legislation complement important U.S. priorities to prevent nuclear terrorism, counterproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and counterterrorism initiatives. Enacting this legislation will reinforce the United States' leadership role in promoting these and other counterterrorism treaties and will likely prompt other countries to join. In addition to bolstering broad security and proliferation-prevention goals, these protocols help to promote implementation of certain sanctions against rogue regimes that are hostile to U.S. interests. I commend Chairman Goodlatte and Ranking Member Conyers, along with the sponsor of H.R. 1073, Crime Subcommittee Chairman Sensenbrenner, and Ranking Member Scott for their commitment to this important legislation. I urge my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 1073 today, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1073) to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for protection of maritime navigation and prevention of nuclear terrorism, and for other purposes.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 1073, currently under consideration.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 258) to amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to fraudulent representations about having received military declarations or medals.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 258, currently under consideration.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This Nation is blessed with many valiant men and women who have dedicated their lives to military service. My home State of Georgia has no shortage of these heroes, including Technical Sergeant Barry Duffield, who serves as a bomb disposal technician in the Georgia Guard's 116th Air Control Wing. While deployed to Afghanistan, Sergeant Duffield's job was to oversee teams responsible for an incredibly dangerous job--neutralizing improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Sergeant Duffield and his colleagues successfully completed 52 missions and helped destroy more than 1,200 pounds of enemy explosives. On January 7, 2013, Sergeant Duffield was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries he suffered during an IED detonation while deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. Sergeant Duffield also earned the Bronze Star and the Air Force Combat Action Medal for his valor during the same deployment. The Purple Heart is one of the oldest and most recognized American military medals--dating back to 1782 when George Washington created what was then called the Badge of Military Merit to award ``any singularly meritorious action'' by a member of the military. Today, the Purple Heart is awarded to servicemembers like Sergeant Duffield who were killed or wounded by enemy action. For almost 100 years, it has been a Federal crime to wear, manufacture, or sell military decorations or medals without proper authorization. In spite of this, many people have fraudulently claimed to be the recipient of military decorations, and this has unfortunately increased in recent years. In just one State, 600 people claimed on tax forms to be a recipient of the Medal of Honor in 1 year, even though at the time there were only 132 recipients alive nationwide. To address this increase of fraudulent claims, in 2006 Congress enacted the Stolen Valor Act. This important law expands the penalties for falsely representing oneself as a recipient of any medal or honor authorized by Congress for the armed services. In June 2012, the Supreme Court held in a case called U.S. v. Alvarez that the Stolen Valor Act inappropriately criminalized speech protected by the First Amendment. Specifically, the Court held that lying, even about having received a military decoration, is, by itself, protected speech. The Court, however, did note in this same case: In periods of war and peace alike, public recognition of valor and noble sacrifice by men and women in uniform reinforces the pride and national resolve that the military relies upon to fulfill its mission. The Court also provided that false claims about military decorations demean the high purpose of such awards. This harm alone does not overcome the high level of scrutiny afforded protected speech. However, the Court did find: Where false claims are made to effect a fraud or secure moneys or other valuable considerations, say offers of employment, it is well established that the government may restrict speech without affronting the First Amendment. H.R. 258, the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, narrows the law to make it a crime when people falsely claim to be a recipient of military decorations in order to carry out a fraud. The bill rewrites the statute to prohibit holding oneself out to be a recipient of certain military decorations or medals with the intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit. The penalty is limited to fraudulent claims related only to the Congressional Medal of Honor and those decorations or medals listed in the statute, including the Purple Heart. This legislation enjoys strong bipartisan support, and a similar bill was passed by the House with overwhelming support last Congress. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 258, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I'm now pleased to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Heck), the sponsor of this legislation and a tireless advocate for servicemen and -women.

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.