Bob Goodlatte

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Virginia, the Honorable Dave Brat, be permitted to take the oath of office today. His certificate of election has not arrived, but there is no contest and no question has been raised with regard to his election.

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.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, Friendship Industries, Inc. in Harrisonburg, Virginia has served the Commonwealth of Virginia well by offering employment and training opportunities for individuals with disabilities. With a vision of providing ``work opportunities to ensure immediate and full employment for all persons with disabilities'' who come to them for assistance, Friendship Industries has fostered a community that seeks to value all individuals, regardless of the challenges they may face. Friendship Industries, founded in 1964, became one of the first social enterprises in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. What first began as the Linville-Edom Sheltered Workshop for post-high school aged males has grown and flourished into a manufacturing company that has earned both private and public contracts. Through all this growth and change, Friendship Industries has retained its social mission of developing and maintaining employment and training opportunities for individuals with disabilities. I applaud Friendship Industries for its contributions to our community. For 50 years now, the business has provided work opportunities for individuals living with disabilities, embracing the sentiment that ``work offers community and belonging.'' It is an honorable goal to extend community and belonging to all people, and it is my great pleasure to congratulate them and celebrate the work they've done to achieve that goal. Friendship Industries, Inc. will commemorate their 50th anniversary on October 7, 2014. I am pleased to recognize them here today in the United States House of Representatives.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding, and I very much appreciate his leadership on this issue. In every State across this country, and most certainly in the Commonwealth of Virginia, there are folks still looking for good full- time jobs and businesses who want to hire them but can't for fear of government imposed regulations that increase expenses. The administration's tax, regulate, and spend response to this problem hasn't worked, and it is incumbent upon us to enact necessary reforms to restore the American economy. The legislation we consider today includes many provisions to combat excessive regulations that have already been passed by the House of Representatives and await action in the Senate, which has been moribund in dealing with a whole host of issues that are sitting over there on the majority leader's desk, including provisions to restore the 40-hour workweek, to permanently ban taxation of Internet access, to prevent secret settlement deals between Federal bureaucrats and pro-regulatory plaintiffs in lawsuits, to require bureaucrats to consider the cost of regulations to small businesses, to require agencies to adopt the least costly method of implementing the law, and to require Federal agencies to submit major regulations to Congress for approval. We know these provisions will help spur our economy and create jobs. America's labor force participation rate has essentially remained stagnant for the past several months and job creation and economic growth continue to fall short of what is needed to produce a real and durable recovery in our country. It is imperative that we again take action to pass these commonsense reforms, return discouraged workers to full-time jobs, and restore America to prosperity. I urge the Senate to stop stalling and to join us in this effort.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. I thank the chairman for yielding and for his leadership on this issue. Energy is vital to every aspect of American life. Working families, retirees, and businesses large and small are all dependent upon reliable and affordable energy. An unwelcome increase in the electric bill leaves many families no other option but to cut elsewhere. For businesses, higher energy costs mean less money to invest in jobs or expansion. As business costs increase, so does the price of goods down the line, triggering a chain reaction felt throughout the economy. Unfortunately, the Obama administration's policies are contributing to the rise in energy costs by discouraging exploration of domestic resources, imposing additional regulatory hurdles on energy creation, and attempting to bypass Congress to implement economically devastating policies like cap-and-trade. Today, Congress reminds the Obama administration about what they seem to have forgotten--that America's economy is intrinsically linked to affordable energy. This bill encourages us to expand energy production. I am particularly pleased that it includes provisions I have worked on for a long time to move forward, a lease sale off the Virginia coast. This sale will provide necessary energy resources for our Nation, while providing a significant boost to the economy of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It also includes other important provisions, like the Judiciary-approved RAPID Act, which cuts through the government red tape impeding development of our resources. Today's bill helps to ensure that America is an energy leader, utilizing our resources to strengthen the reliability and affordability of energy for American consumers. We must encourage more legislation like the American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act, adopting policies that seek to rebuild our economy and create more jobs. I urge all Members to vote for this legislation that ensures our energy security while boosting our economy.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. At that hearing, we heard testimony that the Justice Department had demonstrated it ``can no longer fairly and justly oversee'' any further investigations into the ongoing IRS targeting scandal and the ``only opportunity for justice'' lies with an independent special counsel. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the Obama administration has repeatedly demonstrated its unwillingness to work with congressional investigators to ensure we all know the full story behind the IRS' targeting of conservative groups. Their attempt to pull the wool over the American peoples' eyes speaks volumes. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of our ongoing efforts to uncover the truth and ensure accountability for the IRS' targeting of conservative groups. I commend my colleagues for bringing these important bills to the floor, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for them.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his leadership on this issue and managing this bill, and I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his leadership and introduction of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, the bills on the floor this evening represent our ongoing effort to get to the bottom of the IRS' targeting effort of innocent American citizens on the basis of their political beliefs and to ensure that such malfeasance never happens again. As I have stated repeatedly over the past year, it is imperative that we find out who ordered the targeting, when the targeting was ordered, and why. I commend my colleagues on the Oversight and Government Reform and Ways and Means Committees for their tireless pursuit of justice for the American people. The Judiciary Committee has been an active partner in this effort. On May 15, 2013, Attorney General Eric Holder promised me and Judiciary Committee members that he would conduct a fair, impartial investigation of the IRS targeting matter. The Attorney General made his famous pledge that: This will not be about parties . . . this will not be about ideological persuasions . . . and anyone who has broken the law will be held accountable. Unfortunately, that appears to be where the administration's commitment to pursuing this investigation ended. On May 7, 2014, following a year of no apparent progress in the investigation, the House passed H. Res. 565, calling on the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS targeting of conservative groups. That resolution, which laid out in detail the case for a special counsel, passed by a bipartisan vote of 250-168. Significantly, 26 Democrats joined in calling on the Attorney General of the United States to appoint an independent special counsel. Since H. Res. 565 passed the House, other events have bolstered the already solid case for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate this matter. Incredibly, on June 13, the IRS announced that it had ``lost'' an untold number of emails belonging to Lois Lerner which were sought by congressional investigators. The ``lost'' emails covered the period between January 1, 2009, and April 2011, a period when the IRS' targeting of conservative groups was occurring regularly. How convenient. Not 2 weeks ago, the IRS announced that it had also lost emails from five other employees involved in congressional investigations, including two agents in the supposedly ``rogue'' Cincinnati office. Again, how convenient. On July 30, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the need for a special counsel to probe the IRS matter.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5108, the ``USPTO Law School Clinic Certification Program Act,'' would make a law school clinic certification pilot program at the USPTO available to all law schools that provide an IP clinic program. I want to thank Rep. Jeffries and Rep. Chabot and all the co-sponsors for putting forth this legislation. Law school clinic programs provide practical hands on experience to law students, preparing them for the real world, and provide individuals and small business with an avenue for legal representation they may otherwise be unable to afford. I expect that as the USPTO implements this program that they will continue to maintain rigorous standards, to ensure that these clinic programs meet the highest requirements and that the students participating meet the standard educational and professional criteria for practice before the office. These IP law clinics are an essential part of law school and they are an important way for schools to help innovators and small businesses and start-ups in their local communities. I think this is a good bill and I support its passage.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 5078, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act. In Virginia and the larger Chesapeake Bay watershed we have already seen the Environmental Protection Agency micromanaging state and local water decisions. The EPA's Waters of the U.S. rule expands the regulatory over-reach we have seen in the Bay watershed to the entire United States while imposing even more harmful regulations on even more small streams, creeks, manmade ponds, and nearby wetlands under the agency's control. Congress intended the states and federal government to implement the Clean Water Act as a federal-state partnership where the states and federal government act as co-regulators. This rule is just another example of EPA forgetting the Clean Water Act's goal of cooperative federalism. The EPA cannot re-write the Clean Water Act and expand their jurisdiction at a whim. Only Congress can grant that authority. Today's vote is an important step to rein in the EPA and protect the farmers, landowners, and local economies that stand to be harmed by this rule. I urge passage of this important legislation. Protecting America's waterways is critical, but what we need are commonsense policies that will protect water quality without limiting economic growth and unfairly over-regulating local agricultural producers and economies-- not more power grabs by the EPA.

Mr. GOODLATTE

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

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Identity theft is a crime that leaves its victims feeling exposed and vulnerable while simultaneously inflicting serious financial damage upon them and the financial institutions and government agencies they do business with. Unfortunately, identity theft is an expanding problem that has recently shifted its target to include the tax refund dollars owed to many hardworking Americans. The Federal Trade Commission routinely issues statistics listing identify theft as the number one consumer complaint, with American adults having a roughly 1 in 5 chance of being victimized. Fraud related to government benefits and documents regularly comprises the large majority of identity theft reports. The IRS has recognized the problem and begun shifting assets in response to this expanding threat. In a typical example from earlier this year in Norfolk, Virginia, two hospital workers were sentenced following their convictions for tax-related aggravated identity theft. Their scheme included stealing the personal information of hospital patients and using that information to apply for Federal tax refunds. All told, nearly 80 fraudulent returns were filed, seeking more than $400,000 in illegitimate refunds. For the victims of this type of fraud, the original notice is often a rejection by the IRS of their legitimate tax returns. Not surprisingly, this initial rejection is often only the beginning of a long and continuing road to financial recovery. In addition to the delays inherent in resolving their tax return dispute and receiving their refund, the months following the discovery of the identity theft are typically spent trying to restore their credit through an endless stream of paperwork, including police reports, affidavits to credit bureaus, and complaints to various consumer protection agencies. Unfortunately, in Virginia and nationwide, this is a problem that is only growing in magnitude, partly due to the expanding methods used by criminals to gain access to personal information. From highly sophisticated cyber criminal organizations engaged in activities designed to gain access to personal data on a grand scale to individual cases involving a lost wallet or purse, the ways in which someone with criminal intent can obtain our personal information are too numerous to list. The legislation before us today, the STOP Identity Theft Act of 2014, is designed to strengthen the penalties associated with tax-related identity theft. Additionally, H.R. 744 expands who can be a victim of tax-related identity theft to include businesses and organizations, directs the Justice Department to allocate additional resources towards enforcement in this area, and encourages cooperation with State and local authorities through the establishment of task forces and otherwise. I commend the sponsors, Ms. Wasserman Schultz and Chairman Smith, for their dedication to this important issue, and I urge my colleagues to join me to support this legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee and the lead Republican cosponsor of this 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. 744, currently under consideration.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 744) to provide effective criminal prosecutions for certain identity thefts, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. GOODLATTE

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

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

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. GOODLATTE. At this time, its my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the brand-new majority whip of the United States Congress.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it is my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann).

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds to say that this bill does not deport anyone. This bill simply freezes a program that violates the United States Constitution. So now, Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).

Mr. GOODLATTE. So 50,000 coming across the border, that is 50,000 unaccompanied minors coming to the border, and they are a small percentage of the total number of people. Eighty-five percent of the people coming to the border right now--and all categories are up. Children are up most, but all categories are up, and 85 percent are not unaccompanied minors. So the gentleman makes a very valid point about the crisis at our border and the cause of that crisis. The President caused it. The President can solve it. The President should act now, and we need to send a strong message that America is not open to people who violate our laws. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds to say that DACA is more than just abuse of prosecutorial discretion. It also creates benefits that are not provided for under the law. At this time, it is my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn), the chief sponsor of this legislation.

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

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman.