Bob Goodlatte

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 336.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the majority leader.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I have only one speaker remaining to close the debate for our side. I believe we have the right to close. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time is remaining on each side?

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Gianforte).

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

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

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\3/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar).

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

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time is remaining on each side?

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds to point out to my Democratic colleagues that every single one of them had the opportunity and every single one of them voted against H.R. 6136, which addressed this issue and a solution for DACA recipients. Every one of them voted against it. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the House majority whip.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), the former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 990) supporting the officers and personnel who carry out the important mission of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as amended.

Mr. GOODLATTE. 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 materials on H. Res. 990, currently under consideration.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H. Res. 990 introduced by Clay Higgins to express our support for the men and women of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Recently, Democrats nationwide, from the mayor of New York City to Senators Gillibrand and Warren, have recklessly called for the abolishment of ICE, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with enforcing Federal immigration laws within our Nation's interior. They have used rhetoric that is both bewildering and deeply troubling. New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon has gone so far as to call ICE a ``terrorist organization.'' The Democratic candidate for the 14th Congressional District of New York just yesterday stated: ``We have to occupy all of it. We need to occupy every airport. We need to occupy every border. We need to occupy every ICE office. . . . '' What is remarkable is that these calls would undo what has been our singular bipartisan achievement on immigration over the last two decades--the creation of ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The late Barbara Jordan was one of the most distinguished persons ever to serve in this body. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and NAACP's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal for highest and noblest achievement by a living African American. She was appointed by President Clinton to be chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. Her commission found that: Immigration law enforcement requires staffing, training, resources, and a work culture that differs from what is required for effective adjudication of immigration benefits. Separating enforcement and benefits functions will lead to more effective enforcement. The commission is particularly concerned that although the removal system produced more than 100,000 final removal orders each year, the system did not have the corresponding capacity to remove the individuals subject to those orders. It noted that: The system is bogged down with increasing numbers of aliens who are put into removal proceedings, released due to a lack of detention space, and never appear at their hearings, or are never deported after a final order of removal is issued. We must enable the immigration system to deliver better on its commitment to actually remove those who are issued final orders. Those are the words of Barbara Jordan's Commission. Following upon the Barbara Jordan Commission's recommendation, Sheila Jackson Lee introduced the Immigration Restructuring and Accountability Act establishing an Office of Immigration Enforcement to: Implement the removal of deportable and inadmissible aliens from the United States. Ms. Jackson Lee has stated: I have been a champion for years when it comes to restructuring the Immigration and Naturalization Service. I have been arguing for years that we need to separate out services and enforcement functions of the INS. In 2001, then-Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner introduced the Barbara Jordan Immigration Reform and Accountability Act which proposed to abolish the INS and established separate offices for immigration enforcement and the provision of immigration benefits. The bill was a bipartisan juggernaut. It passed the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 32-2 and this body by a vote of 405-9. Alcee Hastings stated during floor consideration that: I want to commend the authors of this bill. They have produced a bipartisan bill that is sure to improve performance and accountability. I think Mr. Sensenbrenner and Mr. Conyers have done an outstanding job. The Barbara Jordan Immigration Reform and Accountability Act was, in effect, enacted into law as part of the Homeland Security Act. In creating DHS, it transferred over the INS's functions and placed responsibility over Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the same directorate. President Bush placed the final piece of the puzzle in 2003 when he submitted a DHS reorganization plan that created the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the primary mission of: Enforcing the full range of immigration and customs laws within the interior of the United States. In that bygone era, House Democrats were committed to effective enforcement of our immigration laws. This was further evidenced by the fact that in 1996, a majority of Democrats voted for Lamar Smith's omnibus immigration enforcement legislation that was to be enacted as the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. That commitment has inexorably withered away. By 2005, only 36 House Democrats voted for Jim Sensenbrenner's Border Protection, Anti- Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act. Just a few weeks ago, not one Democrat voted for either of two bills that would have resuscitated immigration enforcement--the Securing America's Future Act or the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act. House Democrats once worked collaboratively with Republicans to improve the effectiveness of Federal immigration enforcement. I hope that we will resume that soon. Now it appears that they are outraged when ICE has the audacity to actually enforce the laws that we have enacted. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote on both sides of the aisle for H. Res. 990. Let's honor the work of Barbara Jordan and our Republican and Democratic colleagues who joined together to create ICE, and the brave men and women of ICE to whom we owe so much. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Higgins), who is the chief sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 717) to promote pro bono legal services as a critical way in which to empower survivors of domestic violence, as amended.

Mr. GOODLATTE. 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 materials on S. 717, currently under consideration.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to be voting on S. 717, the Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent Act of 2018, otherwise known as the POWER Act. The POWER Act directs that each year the chief judge in each judicial district across the country hold at least one event in partnership with domestic violence service providers or volunteer lawyer projects to promote pro bono legal services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Lawyers play a critical role in combating domestic violence. Not only do government prosecutors enforce criminal laws, but in the civil realm, lawyers may provide legal representation in matters such as civil protection order applications which ultimately help keep victims safe from their abusers. While victims are able to apply for these orders pro se, as this bill makes clear, legal representation increases the possibility of successfully obtaining a protective order against an attacker, which prevents further mental and physical injury to a victim and his or her family. One study has found that 83 percent of victims represented by an attorney were able to obtain a protective order, whereas only 32 percent of victims without an attorney were able to do so. Federal courts already promote many pro bono programs in their judicial districts and have access to local attorneys who may be able to volunteer to work with domestic violence victims. This bill not only requires a public event in each Federal judicial district for every year during a 4-year period, it also requires an additional public event to be held every 2 years during the 4-year period in districts that contain Tribes or Tribal organizations that specifically focus on encouraging pro bono legal services for Indian or Alaska Native victims of domestic violence. I would like to thank Senator Sullivan from Alaska for introducing this bill and shepherding it through the Senate. And I would like to thank Mr. Kennedy from the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts for introducing this bill in the House. This is an extremely important issue, and I hope it will make a real difference in increasing legal services to victims. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the POWER Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. McMorris Rodgers), who is the Republican Conference chair.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the dean of the House who has been a real champion in combating domestic violence.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, this is a very good bill. I thank the Senator from Alaska, Mr. Sullivan, for working with me and my staff. On the minority side as well, I thank Congressman Kennedy, Mr. Raskin, and the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. This is truly a bipartisan effort to help educate people who are the victims of domestic violence about better ways that they can protect themselves and avail themselves of good representation in court. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.