Bob Goodlatte

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I have one speaker remaining, and so I reserve the balance of my time to close.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining?

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 770, I call up the bill (H.R. 5759) to establish a rule of construction clarifying the limitations on executive authority to provide certain forms of immigration relief, and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta).

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to clarify a couple of things. First of all, it is not true that the House of Representatives has not acted to fix our broken immigration system. First of all, last summer, we passed two bills, one from the Appropriations Committee and one under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee, that did just that, that provided resources to secure our borders to stop the surge of illegal immigrants coming into our country and make sure that the similarly unconstitutional DACA program that the President implemented earlier was frozen and could not proceed further. So, to me, that is simply not true.

Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield myself an additional 1 minute. When he came to this body almost 3 years ago with his list of things that he wanted done, he said, ``If you don't do it, I will.'' On that occasion, some Members on that side of the aisle stood up and applauded. Guess what? Since then, in health care reform, in the environment, in enforcement of our drug laws and in a whole host of other things, that is exactly what he has done, and he said he was going to do it. He said, ``I have my pen and my phone, and I will do it myself.'' Well, in this case, he has, on more than 20 occasions, said he did not have the authority to do it. Now, the folks on the other side of the aisle are saying, ``Oh, he didn't change the law.''

Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield myself an additional 15 seconds to say that the fact of the matter is that when you talk about taxes, there is no requirement in the President's executive order that anyone who qualifies as an unlawful alien must get this administrative legalization to pay back taxes. There is none. They have to pay taxes moving forward, but one of the benefits is they qualify for the earned income tax credit. So this could cost the taxpayers of the country even more. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), the chief sponsor of the legislation.

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. 5759.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston).

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. I would point out that the Supreme Court decision in Heckler v. Chaney in no way justifies the claim that the President of the United States has this authority to issue this enormous order. Nor do we have a situation where it could justifiably be found that the agency has consciously and expressly adopted a general policy that is so extreme as to amount to an abdication of its statutory responsibilities. That is what has happened here. The President has abdicated his statutory responsibilities in enforcing the law and changed the law, and that is why it cannot be upheld. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it is my pleasure to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford).

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the majority whip.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support Mr. Yoho's important bill, the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014. President Obama has just announced one of the biggest constitutional power grabs ever by a President. He has declared unilaterally that, by his own estimation, more than 4 million unlawful immigrants will be free from the legal consequences of their lawless actions. Not only that, he will, in addition, bestow upon them gifts such as work authorization and other immigration benefits. This despite the fact that President Obama has stated, over 20 times in the past, that he does not have the constitutional power to take such steps on his own and has repeatedly stated, ``I'm not a king.'' Pursuant to article I, section 8, of the Constitution, only Congress has the power to write immigration laws. Our Founding Fathers established this separation of powers to prevent tyranny. As James Madison wrote: No political truth is certainly of greater intrinsic value or is stamped with the authority of more enlightened patrons of liberty than that . . . the accumulation of all powers legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self- appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. President Obama is, in effect, rewriting our immigration laws by granting deferred action to more than 4 million unlawful aliens. Pursuant to article II, section 3, of the Constitution, the President is required to ``take care that the laws be faithfully executed''; yet President Obama is refusing to enforce our immigration laws for these millions of unlawful aliens. President Obama justifies his actions by claiming that his administration is merely exercising the power of prosecutorial discretion; yet as Clinton administration INS Commissioner Doris Meissner told her agency, ``Exercising prosecutorial discretion does not lessen the INS' commitment to enforce the immigration laws to the best of our ability.'' While previous Presidents have provided immigration relief to groups of aliens, usually their actions were based on emergencies in foreign countries, thereby relying upon the broad constitutional power given to a President to conduct foreign affairs. Without any such foreign crisis and in granting deferred action to a totally unprecedented number of aliens, President Obama has clearly exceeded his constitutional authority. I commend Mr. Yoho for introducing his bill, which undoes the damage to our constitutional system that President Obama's actions are causing. The bill reaffirms the constitutional principles that only Congress has the power to write immigration laws and that the President must enforce those laws. Mr. Yoho's bill prevents President Obama or any future President from exempting or deferring the removal of categories of unlawful aliens, except to the extent that the President is relying on his constitutional powers over foreign affairs or utilizing exceptions provided for in the bill for exceptional humanitarian and law enforcement circumstances. The bill prevents President Obama or any future President from considering such aliens to be lawfully present in the United States and thus ineligible for the rights and privileges available to lawfully present aliens. It prevents President Obama or any future President from granting work authorization to such aliens. Finally, the bill takes effect as if enacted on November 20, 2014, thus nullifying the President's recent executive actions. I, again, urge my colleagues to vote for this necessary bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Today, we take an important step toward preventing the taxpayer- funded bailouts that characterized the 2008 financial crisis. The legislation before us, the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act, enhances the Bankruptcy Code to facilitate the resolution of a failing financial institution through the bankruptcy process. In doing so, this will help to ensure that private creditors, not taxpayers, bear the losses related to a failing financial institution. The Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act is the culmination of years of review and research by the Judiciary Committee; other committees; and experts from the financial, regulatory, legal, and academic communities who helped to examine how best to prevent another financial crisis from occurring and avert the use of taxpayer moneys to bail out failing firms. The Judiciary Committee has participated in and promoted this review with the aim of examining whether the bankruptcy laws could be improved to enhance the prospects of resolving a financial institution through the bankruptcy process. During the course of two oversight hearings this Congress, the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial, and Antitrust Law received testimony that the Bankruptcy Code could be improved to better facilitate a resolution of a financial firm and that an amendment to chapter 11 to provide for a specialized subchapter would be the most efficient approach to that goal. Following these hearings, the committee worked in a bipartisan fashion to draft legislation that built on this record and integrated witnesses' and leading experts' recommendations. These efforts culminated in a discussion draft of the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act of 2014, which was the subject of a legislative hearing on July 15, 2014. All witnesses at the hearing testified that, subject to a few modifications, the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act should be enacted into law. In connection with the July 15 hearing, the committee circulated the draft legislation to a number of interested parties, including the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the National Bankruptcy Conference, and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. The committee again, in a bipartisan fashion, received, reviewed, and incorporated multiple comments submitted by these and other parties. The bill was introduced and approved by the committee by voice vote on September 10 of this year. The bill on the floor today is a reflection of the careful, deliberate, thorough, and bipartisan process the bill received and is the product of a diverse range of views from a variety of interested parties. The Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act makes several improvements to the Bankruptcy Code in order to enhance the prospect of an efficient resolution of a financial firm through the bankruptcy process. The bill allows for a speedy transfer of the operating assets of a financial firm over the course of a weekend. This quick transfer allows the financial firm to continue operating in the normal course, which preserves the value of the enterprise for the firm's creditors without having a significant impact on the firm's employees, suppliers, and customers. The bill also requires an expedited judicial review by judges designated in advance and selected by the chief justice for their experience, expertise, and willingness to preside over these complex cases; furthermore, the legislation provides for key input from the financial institution's regulators during the process. The Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act is a bipartisan, balanced approach that increases transparency and predictability in the resolution of a financial firm. I am pleased that the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Conyers, joined in introducing this important legislation, and I want to thank him and his staff for working hand in hand with us during the development of this bill. I also would like to thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial, and Antitrust Law, Mr. Bachus, for introducing the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act. It is no mistake that the former chairman of the Financial Services Committee is the lead sponsor of this legislation. Mr. Bachus has been a longstanding champion of the bankruptcy process, and that was reflected in the multiple subcommittee hearings he chaired on this issue. This legislation is a tribute to his many years dedicated to financial services and bankruptcy issues, and he will be sorely missed next Congress. I wish him all the best during the next chapter of his life. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it is my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law, and the chief sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield an additional 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama.

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. 5421, currently under consideration.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5421) to amend title 11 of the United States Code in order to facilitate the resolution of an insolvent financial institution in bankruptcy, as amended.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for yielding the time and the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, Mr. Hastings, for moving this legislation forward. I want to thank the gentleman from Arizona as well for his support and indicate to him that the intention is to continue to use this land for a child care center, but in order to improve the child care center, they need to be able to get financing that is not available with the encumbrance that exists right now. Mr. Speaker, for over 25 years, a little over 3 acres of land and its associated buildings, previously wholly held by the Federal Government, have been maintained by Rockingham County and the Plains Area Daycare Center in my congressional district. In 1989, the Federal Government deeded these 3 acres of land to Rockingham County, but prior to this official declaration, Rockingham County had already been maintaining the lands around the facility. The land and building had been used as a garage and maintenance facility for the National Forest Service. However, it was no longer being utilized, and the county was doing upkeep on the land. The land transfer in 1989 allowed this land to be used for public purposes. The county decided that the nonprofit Plains Area Daycare Center in Broadway, Virginia, which provides child care on a sliding scale and helps many families who otherwise could not afford child care, would benefit from the use of the old garage. Public Law 101-479 allowed the deed to be changed from public use for the particular use of the child care center. Donations by the community, totaling $75,000, turned the garage building into a nursery, daycare, and afterschool care facility. Additionally, the creation of the daycare center provided for the creation of a playground that the center supports and is open for public use. To be clear, the center and the playground are the sole reason that this previously abandoned government land is being used by the community. Unfortunately, because of the narrow way Public Law 101-479 was drafted, any extension or maintenance of the physical structures has required approval by the Department of the Interior. In 1998, the county had to obtain permission from the Department to add an addition that was funded through pledges and a county loan, resulting in another $125,000 worth of improvements by the community. The building is, once again, in need of repairs, forcing the county to seek approval from the Department of the Interior for repairs. Further, because of the terms of the deed, the daycare center has been unable to get a loan to complete the needed renovations. I have been pleased to visit the Plains Area Daycare Center on many occasions. The center is committed to providing high-quality child care on a sliding scale. The center is also committed to making sure children have the skills necessary to enter and thrive in school through early childhood education programs. The investments this center is making in the community are immeasurable. Since opening in 1991, the center has always been at capacity, and it is the only facility of its kind in the community. By passing this legislation and allowing Rockingham County and, in return, the Plains Area Daycare Center more authority over the land, it will ensure that more children and more of the community will be served by this land. Mr. Speaker, my legislation today is a simple formality. For 25 years, the land has been deeded to Rockingham County but with restriction. It is clear the Federal Government no longer has a vested interest in the land. This property is being used by the county and the community to help those in need. My legislation removes the restrictions on the land to ensure this community investment can continue to thrive. I urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 5162 so that the necessary upgrades may be made to the child care center and so that the community can be better served.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, it is just a real honor to be here tonight to tell my friend, Howard Coble, how much he means to me and how much I am going to miss him here in the House of Representatives. He has not only been an outstanding leader on the House Judiciary Committee--and by the way, I hope the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) will compile all those wonderful photographs and put them in some kind of a binder so that--a book maybe, so that all of us can see and enjoy all those historic caricatures that have been created in Howard's honor over these many years--but not only has he been a great member of the House Judiciary Committee, he has been a close personal friend of mine for more than 20 years. In addition to serving with him on the committee, he is somebody who is always turning to others, taking an interest in them. He has an uncanny ability to remember the mascots for virtually any high school or college that someone attended and his ability to always ask others how they are feeling. With respect to this last point, he has defused more than a few difficult conversations by asking people, ``How is your back feeling?'' Inevitably, especially if someone is older, they begin to talk about back problems and forget what they were so exercised about. He is also a great tennis player. For nearly 20 years, I have had the honor of playing tennis with him very early on Wednesday mornings. Howard isn't known for moving around the court really fast, but the thing about him is he always was there where you hit the ball, and he always put it back just exactly where he wanted it to go, an amazing accomplishment. So Howard, thank you very much for that. I want to tell one story in conjunction with a field hearing that took place in Nashville--Howard is a great fan of bluegrass music and country music in general--a field hearing that took place in Nashville when the Fairness in Music Licensing bill was under consideration in the late 1990s, a meeting was arranged with Garth Brooks. Howard, who was serving as the then-subcommittee chairman, was a lifelong fan of bluegrass and traditional country music. He didn't really know who Brooks was and was far more interested in arranging a meeting with Grandpa Jones from the Grand Ole Opry, but he knows who he is now. In fact, Garth is making a comeback; and, Howard, you will enjoy many, many more opportunities to enjoy the music that you love. He would always ask me how things were in the Star City, which is my hometown of Roanoke, Virginia, and took an interest in me and what I was doing. On the committee, as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, where he serves now and has served on a number of occasions in the past, he stood very strong for the rights, the private property rights of people who are creators of music and motion pictures and great products that they seek patents on and so on. His work will serve for a long time in the future to protect that great American incentive to create and create jobs. His work has created many jobs for many Americans. He is a true son of the Sixth District of North Carolina. I am from the Sixth District of Virginia, but in his case, he is a lifelong son of the Sixth District, having been born in Greensboro, educated in the Sixth District, and been a county attorney and an assistant U.S. attorney. He has been a revenuer with the North Carolina Department of Revenue. What I didn't know was that his first 6 years in his professional life, he was a claims adjuster for the State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. So here, in the closing days of his service, I am still learning new things about my friend, Howard Coble. Howard, thank you very much for not only being my friend and a great colleague to all of us here in the House, but for being a great American. Thank you, and God bless you.