Bob Goodlatte

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 953, I call up the bill (H.R. 6136) to amend the immigration laws and provide for border security, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I just want to say there are complaints that this is not a bipartisan bill, and yet we addressed the issues that Democrats expressed concern about. We have a very good way to address the DACA population in this legislation, and yet when we look to the other side for help with securing our border, with taking the current fencing--and if you have ever been along that border, particularly in San Diego where they have a very high fence, but all it is is a fence. You can take a saw, an electric saw and cut through that in a matter of seconds and be on the other side. But where is the help for addressing those kind of security measures? I don't see it. We have addressed in this legislation the family separation issue in a very good way. We agree: families should be unified. If it is simply a matter of a misdemeanor charge that the parents are facing, we want the children to be detained with them. But where is the help that we get from the other side in terms of addressing problems like catch-and- release; problems like asylum fraud; problems like unaccompanied minor status, where we have a disparity between how we handle unaccompanied minors coming across the border from Canada or Mexico who are Canadian or Mexican, but if they have come from somewhere else in the world through Canada or Mexico, we can't treat them the same way. All of those things are addressed in this bill. We are addressing the concerns of the American people on how to address immigration reform through the four pillars: making sure we do something appropriate for the DACA population, including opportunities, not for a special pathway to citizenship, but to ultimately attain citizenship if they earn it; and we are also addressing the other three categories, border security and closing the loopholes in our laws, ending the visa lottery and moving to a merit-based immigration system, and moving towards a family-based immigration system that is the nuclear family, your spouse and your children, not extended family members. I don't see anything addressing most of that coming from any legislation from the Democrats, and I certainly would welcome seeing their proposals on what they would do for a wall and fencing and other security measures along our border. I would be very interested in seeing what they do to help us move from an overwhelmingly family-based immigration system to one that is a merit-based system. Countries like Canada and the United Kingdom and Australia, they give their immigrants visas in 50, 60, 70 percent of their cases based upon education, job skills, job offers, training. We are at 12 percent. That is unacceptable. This bill moves us in the right direction. I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Flores).

Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining on each side.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. GOODLATTE. If the gentlemen will yield, I don't control the floor schedule so I can't answer the question as to the timing of when the gentleman's opportunity to offer a motion to recommit, which the rules provide for, will be afforded to him. I don't know the answer to that.

Mr. GOODLATTE. If the gentleman will yield, again, I don't control the floor, and I don't have any direct advice on when that will take place.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of closing on our side, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Curbelo).

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

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chairman, Kristen Holman adored her little brother, Garrett. She cherished his warm heart and his bigger than life personality. She loved her brother unconditionally, as did her mother and father, Bobbie and Don. Unfortunately, on February 9, 2017, at the age of 20, Garrett lost his life to a synthetic opioid that was mailed straight to him from China. My district lost a promising young man, Don and Bobby lost their son, and Kristen lost her little brother and only sibling. Sadly, tens of thousands of families across the Nation have lost their loved ones to the opioid crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, drug overdoses killed over 64,000 Americans in 2016, a staggering increase of over 21 percent from 2015. Of those souls lost, over 20,000 deaths were caused by synthetic opioids, the same type of drug that took Garrett's life. Regrettably, the suffering shows no signs of slowing, as deaths from synthetic opioids have more than doubled from last year. Synthetic drugs can be more potent and deadly than the real thing. However, when law enforcement encounters a certain synthetic drug compound and takes steps under current Federal law to bring the drug under lawful control, the manufacturers of these synthetics slightly alter the chemical structure of the drug to once again evade law enforcement. As a result, law enforcement is constantly one step behind the manufacturers. Left undeterred, manufacturers and distributors continue to flood the U.S. with deadly synthetic drugs. Seizures of illicit fentanyl by Customs and Border Protection increased 64,000 percent between 2013 and 2017. We must stop this flood of poison that is fueling an epidemic that has taken far too many lives. The Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act, or SITSA, ensures that manufacturers and distributors of deadly synthetic drugs cannot continue to evade law enforcement. SITSA modernizes the Controlled Substances Act by clarifying the regulation of synthetic analogues. First, SITSA modernizes the Controlled Substances Act to establish schedule A, a new category for controlled substance analogues. Second, the act establishes a streamlined mechanism by which synthetic analogues can be temporarily and/or permanently added to schedule A, but only after a thorough analysis by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Altogether, SITSA will combat the flow of synthetic drugs that have taken both Garrett's life and lives of 20,000 Americans over the last year. This bill was carefully crafted over the past 2 years with extensive coordination between law enforcement agencies from the Department of Justice and scientists and researchers at the Department of Health and Human Services. Together, this bill strikes a balance between giving law enforcement the ability to stop the flow of deadly synthetic drugs while allowing the research community to study these dangerous drugs, identify the root causes of addiction, and advance the latest cures for serious illnesses. Mr. Chairman, we cannot stand idle as criminal manufacturers and distributors of synthetic drugs continue to flood our country and destroy the lives of countless Americans. Not one more family should feel the pain that the Holmans feel after a synthetic drug shipped from China took Garrett's life. SITSA is a bipartisan bill, and I commend Mr. Katko and Miss Rice, both of New York, for their efforts in moving this legislation forward. I urge my colleagues to support SITSA and bring an end to the era where manufacturers and distributors can freely profit from selling these dangerous drugs and destroy so many lives.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4655) to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the importation or transportation of child sex dolls, and for other purposes.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on H.R. 4655 currently under consideration.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today we consider the Curbing Realistic Exploitative Electronic Pedophilic Robots Act of 2017. It criminalizes the importation and transportation of child sex dolls. I have mixed feelings today about bringing this bill to the floor. I am happy that this legislation is moving through, and we are taking steps to address a problem that very much needs to be addressed. I am distraught, however, that this problem even exists. I am saddened that there are people in this world who would create realistic child sex dolls and distraught that there are people in this world who would buy them. These dolls are being manufactured in China and Japan and being shipped all over the world. Consumers can order bespoke dolls providing pictures of specific children they would like the doll to resemble. They can indicate a preferred facial expression, such as sadness or fear. These dolls can be programmed to simulate rape. The very thought makes me nauseous. While a small group of people advocate for the use of these dolls to curb pedophilia, there is absolutely no scientific literature supporting this view. To the contrary, these dolls create a real risk of reinforcing pedophilic behavior, and they desensitize the user, causing him to engage in sicker and sicker behavior. They put our children in danger, and we must not tolerate them. In April of this year, Amazon announced it was removing anatomically correct child sex dolls from its website. I call upon all internet- based retailers and media platforms to do the same. Australia and the United Kingdom have already taken steps to criminalize the importation of child sex dolls and are actively prosecuting these cases. There is no reason that the United States should not follow suit. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Mr. Donovan of New York for introducing this bill. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Donovan), the chief sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, this truly is, as the gentlewoman from Texas said, a disgusting topic, but it is one that I think is very necessary to protect our children and to protect our society. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I, again, thank the gentleman from New York for offering it. His experience as a prosecutor and his testimony to how horrific he finds it, even as a veteran prosecutor, should tell all the Members all they need to know about how important it is to pass this bill and start doing what the United Kingdom and Australia are already doing, and that is getting after the people who would import this kind of trash into the United States. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6029) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to reauthorize the comprehensive opioid abuse grant program, and for other purposes.

Mr. GOODLATTE. 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. 6029, currently under consideration.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in July 2016, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, otherwise known as CARA. The statistics then were shocking, and, unfortunately, they have not yet subsided. In 2016, more than 64,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, including illicit drugs and prescription opioids. This figure has nearly doubled in the past decade. Part of CARA created a comprehensive opioid abuse reduction program at the Department of Justice which directs Federal resources for drug abuse programs targeted at the opioid problem within our criminal justice system. By establishing this competitive grant program, CARA gives States and localities maximum flexibility to attack opioid abuse issues unique to their communities. States are now able to use the grant funds for a variety of important criminal justice programs, including alternatives to incarceration, treatment programs for incarcerated individuals, juvenile opioid abuse, investigation and enforcement of drug trafficking and distribution laws, and significant training for first responders in carrying and administering opioid overdose reversal drugs, like naloxone. States can enlist nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations, in the fight against opioid abuse. In 2016, CARA authorized this new program at $103 million annually over 5 years. However, 3 months ago, Congress tripled that authorization to $330 million, including funds for drug courts, mental health courts, residential drug abuse treatment for State prisoners, and veterans' treatment courts. Therefore, the bill before us results in no net increase in spending authorizations and no additional burden on the American taxpayer, which is a responsible, good government approach to this epidemic. This bill reauthorizes the CARA program through 2023, so we can make sure there is no lapse in our efforts against drug addiction. While Members of this body should be proud of our accomplishments, there is still much more work to do. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and thereby reassure all Americans that we are committed to fighting the opioid epidemic. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus), whom I failed to note in my opening remarks is the chief sponsor of this legislation and someone very dedicated to addressing problems with opioid abuse.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I, too, want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus). I want to thank the gentlewoman, the ranking member of the Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee for her dedication to addressing this very serious problem. I want to urge all of my colleagues to join us in supporting this fine legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.