Sheila Jackson Lee

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, my first task is to thank the ranking member, Mr. Bishop, and the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Dent, both of whom I have worked with, and I consider them champions of veterans and champions of the legislation that we have before us in terms of the needs that are there. However, there are many needs that should be addressed, Mr. Chairman. I hold in my hand a list of veterans who have fallen upon hard times, one in particular who has three grown daughters who are serving in the military. She, herself, served in the Navy for 5 years, had a divorce, and really needed to have housing assistance and medical care, but her options were insufficient. My amendment is a simple amendment to, again, remind us of the importance of these individuals who still suffer. The Jackson Lee amendment makes a modest but important improvement to the bill by increasing the amount of funding for Supportive Services for Veteran Families account by $2 million, offset by a reduction in the same amount to the $4 billion allocated to the VA's information technology systems. Today in our country, there are approximately 107,000 veterans, male and female, who are homeless on any given night, and perhaps twice as many--200,000--experience homelessness at some point during the course of the year. All you need do, Mr. Chairman, is go home to your district and be able to engage with your veterans associations and your own constituents, and you will find that they will come up to you because they are homeless. The VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program helps veterans and their families who may have fallen on hard times or hit a rough patch in life and need help from the country they selflessly risked their life to defend. The veterans don't have to remind us that we owe them an obligation of support. They don't have to say it. We know that. When they put on the uniform, they ask no questions; they are selfless. The SSVF program ensures that eligible veteran families receive the outreach, case management, and assistance in obtaining veterans and other benefits. Many are suffering from PTSD or traumatic brain injury. They have lived, and we are grateful for it. Many Vietnam vets are just being diagnosed. This program is crucial to helping them get an extra step in life. I would ask my colleagues to be reminded of the kinds of veterans whom we see every day who are willing to put on that uniform and sacrifice without asking one single question. I ask my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee amendment. Mr. Chair, the Jackson Lee amendment will enable this vital program to serve more veteran families in need of help by providing a bit more funding for grants to provide nonprofit private organizations and consumer cooperatives the ability to provide supportive services. The main point is that there is a need, and I would only say that we need to follow the words of a veteran who said, after getting services, ``I have a home, and I enjoy being inside.'' Let's give more of our veterans and veteran families that very important quote, ``I have a home, and I enjoy being inside.'' I ask my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, before I begin, let me express my appreciation and thanks to my good friends, Chairman Dent and Ranking Member Bishop, for their hard and constructive work in shepherding this legislation to the floor. Chairman Dent and I worked together constructively for many years on the Homeland Security Committee and has always distinguished himself as one of the most bipartisan members of the House. And Ranking Member Bishop has for years been one of the ablest Members of this body; I thank them both for commitment to the important work of ensuring that our veterans receive the care and support they have earned from a grateful nation. The Jackson Lee Amendment makes a modest but important improvement to the bill by increasing the amount of funding for the ``Supportive Services for Veterans' Families'' account by $2 million, offset by a reduction of the same amount to the $4 billion allocated to the VA's ``Information Technology Systems'' account. Today, in our country, there are approximately 107,000 veterans (male and female) who are homeless on any given night. And perhaps twice as many (200,000) experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. The VA's ``Supportive Services for Veterans' Families'' Program helps veterans, and their families, who may have fallen on hard times or hit a rough patch in life and need a little help from the country they selflessly risked their life to defend. The Jackson Lee Amendment will enable this vital program to serve more veterans' families in need of help by providing a bit more funding for grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives that provide supportive services to very low-income veteran families living in or transitioning to permanent housing. The SSVF Program ensures that eligible veteran families receive the outreach, case management, and assistance in obtaining VA and other benefits. These services may include health care, daily living, legal services, fiduciary and payee services, personal financial planning, child care, transportation, housing counseling. The SSVF Program enables VA staff and local homeless service providers to work together to effectively address the unique challenges that make it difficult for some veterans and their families to remain stably housed. Many homeless veterans, including in my own state of Texas, lack housing because they lost their job or could no longer afford rent; many suffer from an untreated mental illness that keeps them from working. Every day the SSVF program makes a real difference in the lives of real people. Veterans like the Air Force veteran who, hoping to utilize the skills he learned in the service, instead bounced from job to job after being discharged and found himself sleeping at night on the cold cement under a bridge in Chicago. Through the Thresholds Veterans Project, funded through the SSVF, this hero received steady community service support and eventually was placed in his own studio apartment. He now says, in his own words: I have a home. I enjoy bein' inside.'' Veterans like the one in Texas who because he lost his job at a manufacturing plant and was unable to pay the bills, was forced to seek shelter for himself and his family at a homeless shelter. Fortunately, the homeless shelter was a SSVF grantee and was able to assist the veteran obtain employment and his family in securing affordable low-cost housing. There are thousands of similar success stories made possible by the SSVF Program that I could share but all of them share a common theme: they involve veterans who served their country proudly, fell down on their luck, picked themselves back up, and found affordable and sustainable housing for their families because of the assistance and support made possible by the SSVF program. Ensuring that veterans have a place of their own to call home is the very least we can do. I urge my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee Amendment and commit ourselves to the hard but necessary work of ending veteran homelessness in America. I urge my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee Amendment.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee again for the work, and I raise again a picture of three ladies who look attractive in this picture. Mr. Chairman, and colleagues, these are homeless vets. These are vets who bonded with each other in a homeless shelter. The good news is that we have made progress on providing services for homeless vets. But I want to emphasize, through this amendment, that we will continue to raise and focus on the needs of homeless vets. I offer the Jackson Lee amendment because I believe reducing and eliminating homelessness among veterans, those who risked their lives to protect our freedom, should also be one of the Nation's highest priorities. I would like this bill to have it as its highest priority. Homelessness among the American veteran population is on the rise in the United States. We must be proactive in giving back to those who have given us so much. Even though the administration has done an enormous job, has made great strides in bringing down the numbers of homeless vets, for those that they bring down, then, for some reason--whether it is the loss of a job or medical issues--vets are becoming homeless every day. My amendment will help remind us of our obligation to provide our veterans the assistance needed to avoid homelessness, which includes adequately funding the program for Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing and, as well, to be able to ensure those centers are there for our veterans. Today in our country, we have mentioned the numbers of veterans that exist: 100,000 veterans, male and female, are homeless; 200,000 experience homelessness. In my hometown of Houston, for example, between the years of 2010 and 2012, the number of homeless vets increased from 771 to 1,162. I want to acknowledge the city of Houston that has worked on their Homeless Veterans Project; the George Hotel that has worked on the Homeless Veterans Project; many other veteran organizations; U.S.VETS, who has worked on the Homeless Veterans Project; and a grant that came some years ago to the Houston Housing Authority to work on the Homeless Veterans Project. But this amendment is to, again, establish in this important legislation the idea that we must fight for our veterans, and we must ensure that every year, we take the temperature of the Nation's homeless vets, the temperature that says, if it is high, the numbers have been going up; if it is low, we are doing our job because the numbers of homeless vets are going down. Let me thank the many shelters that deal with our vets, and particularly in my district, St. John's United Methodist Church for the work they have done, along with many other entities that believe that cutting the numbers of homeless vets should be the end. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, we all watched with great concern and horror the tragic funeral of Freddie Gray and then the enormous outpouring of violence and young people taking to the streets in Baltimore. We commend our colleague Congressman Cummings and the many other citizens--pastors--who went to the streets and called for peace, but it is important for this Congress to stand up and call for criminal justice reform because, as we move into the summer, I express great concern as to the reactions of young people who are unemployed, who feel oppressed, and feel that no one cares. I will be introducing--and have introduced--the Build TRUST bill; the CADET bill that collects data on lethal force between civilians and police; a bill on prison reform--giving good time, 1 day of incarceration, 1 day of good time--to provide for early release of nonviolent prisoners. At the same time, I will be asking for legislation that will provide the same reporting requirements for private prisons as public prisons, as well as grand jury reform, among others. The important point is that the Nation needs to hear this Congress make a statement of their commitment to criminal justice reform. I look forward to working with my colleagues and introducing legislation that will draw bipartisan support so that we can respond to these tragedies and get America on the right footing and rebuild the trust between police and the community.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, let me express my appreciation to the chairman and ranking member of the full committee. Again, they have shown the kind of leadership that the Nation needs on dealing with homeland security. My particular appreciation to the chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies, as they have worked together and presented legislation that provided a very vigorous debate in the subcommittee and the full committee. We believe that we are making enormous leaps and bounds. We are not where we need to be, but we are making leaps and bounds on the whole question of cybersecurity. Over the last couple of years, Mr. Chairman, even someone just reaching kindergarten understands hacking, understands the collapse that we have seen in the variety of major retail entities and banking entities, and they recognize that we have a new lingo but a new problem. Frankly, almost maybe 10 years ago, or maybe somewhere around 7 years ago, as the infrastructure of the United States was under transportation security, we made the note that 85 percent of the Nation's cyber is in the private sector. This legislation is a real approach. The National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015 clearly puts the Department of Homeland Security where it needs to be and provides the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center as the anchor of the information coming into the Federal Government and the vetting entity where Americans can feel that their data can be protected and our civil liberties are protected. Mr. Chairman, my amendment deals with the industrial control systems. All of us know them. I have been to water systems and seen the impact that a cyber attack could have; the electric grid, all of these are in the eye of the storm, and they are in private hands. Attacks against industrial control systems doubled last year, according to a new report from Dell. ``We have over a million firewalls sending data to us on a minute-by- minute basis,'' said John Gordineer, director of product marketing for network security at Dell. Gordineer said: We anonymize the data and see interesting trends. In particular, attacks specifically targeting SCADA industrial control systems rose 100 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year--2014. Countries most affected were Finland, the U.K., and, yes, the United States of America. The most common attack vector against these systems were buffer overflow attacks. The underlying premise of my amendment, the public benefit of this amendment, is that taxpayer dollars provided to ensure cybersecurity of public and private computer networks will focus on real-world applications that reflect how businesses and industries function. So I thank both my colleagues for it. This amendment, in particular, will be an important addition to the legislation, which I believe can be supported by every Member. The amendment states that the Department of Homeland Security, in carrying out the functions authorized under this bill, remain current on industrial control system innovation, industry adoption of new technologies, and industry best practices. Industrial control systems are rarely thought of as long as they work as designed. Industrial control systems are used to deliver utility services to homes and businesses, add precision and speed to manufacturing, and process our foods into finished products. Industrial control systems are responsible for the lights that brighten our cities; for the clean drinking water, which I indicated many of us visited these systems; of the sewage; of automobiles that travel our highways; and the rows upon rows of foods that fill our shelves at grocery stores. We only need to look recently at a contamination of ice cream across the Nation to know that industrial control systems are extremely important. They are also used in large-scale manufacturing. A day does not pass in this country when citizens' lives are not impacted. So, Mr. Chairman, I am asking my colleagues to recognize that we are in control, but the industrial control systems may, in fact, control our daily lives. My amendment is asking that the Department of Homeland Security, in carrying out its function authorized under this bill, remain current on industrial control system innovation, industry adoption of new technologies, and industry best practices. I ask my colleagues, as I ask to put my entire statement into the Record--it lists a whole litany of the private sector infrastructure dealing with industrial control. I am hoping that my amendment will be passed in order to ensure that all aspects of our cyber world are protected for the American people. Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Thompson for their bipartisanship in bringing H.R. 1731, the ``National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015'' before the House for consideration. As a senior member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, I am dedicated to protecting our nation from threats posed by terrorists or others who would wish to do our Nation harm. This is the first of 3 Jackson Lee amendments that will be considered for H.R. 1731, the ``National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015.'' Jackson Lee Amendment No. 4 is simple and will be an important addition to the legislation, which I believe can be supported by every Member of the House. The Jackson Lee amendment states that the Department of Homeland Security, in carrying out the functions authorized under this bill, will remain current on industrial control system innovation, industry adoption of new technologies, and industry best practices. Industrial control systems are rarely thought of as long as they work as designed. Industrial control systems are used to: deliver utility services to homes and businesses; add precision and speed to manufacturing; and process raw foods into finished products. Industrial control systems are responsible for the lights that brighten our cities at night; the clean drinking water that flows from faucets in our homes; automobiles that travel our highways; and the rows upon rows of foods that fill the shelves of grocery stores. Industrial control systems are also used in large-scale manufacturing of home appliances, medicines, and products large and small that are found in our homes and offices. A day does not pass in this country when citizens' lives are not touched by the output of industrial control systems. The critical importance electricity; water, natural gas, and other utility services are all provided by industrial control systems. Industrial control systems help keep the cost of everyday consumer products low, and they are essential to meeting consumer demand for goods and services. Industrial control systems undergo constant improvements as owners and operators work to address vulnerabilities and improve efficiency. Innovation is occurring rapidly in industrial control systems. All industrial control systems have one thing in common--they require computer software, firmware, and hardware. In its wisdom, the Committee on Homeland Security incorporated industrial control systems in its cybersecurity legislation, because industrial control systems are vulnerable to computer errors, accidents, and cybersecurity threats. Coupled with the cybersecurity challenges of industrial control systems is the rapid pace of innovation. For example, a new innovation being adopted by industrial control systems involves 3-Dimential or 3-D printing. 3-D printing involves scanning a physical object with a printer made of a high-power laser that fuses small particles of plastic, metal, ceramic, or glass powders into the object's size and shape. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the 3-D printing of jet engine parts to coffee mugs is possible. 3-D printing has the potential to shrink supply chains, save product development times, and increase customization of products. 3-D printing is not the only innovation that will impact industrial control systems. Electricity delivery depends on industrial control systems. The biggest innovation in electricity delivery is the smart grid, which is quickly replacing old electricity delivery and metering technology in cities across the Nation. The term ``smart grid'' encompasses a host of inter-related technologies rapidly moving into public use to reduce or better manage electricity consumption. Smart grid systems can aid electricity service providers, users, or third-party electricity usage management service providers to monitor and control electricity use. The smart grid is also making it possible to more efficiently manage the flow of electricity to residential and industrial consumers. Electric utility meters that were once read once a month are being replaced by smart meters that can be read remotely using smart grid communication systems every 15 minutes or less. The smart grid is capable of monitoring the consumption of electricity down to the individual residential or commercial property. DHS should remain current as innovations like 3-D printing and smart grid technologies are introduced to industrial control systems. This Jackson Lee amendment is a good contribution to H.R. 1731. I request support of this amendment by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, let me thank Mr. Thompson and Mr. McCaul for their leadership and Mr. Ratcliffe and Mr. Richmond for their leadership and for the importance of this legislation on the floor today and--this is something that I have often said--for the importance of the Department of Homeland Security's being the front armor, if you will, for domestic security, and this is a very important component of domestic security. The Jackson Lee-Polis amendment states that not later than 60 months after the date of this act the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an assessment on the impact of privacy and civil liberties, limited to the work of the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center. The public benefit of this amendment is that it will provide public assurance from a reliable and trustworthy source that their privacy and civil liberties are not being compromised. Whether it is the PATRIOT Act or the USA FREEDOM Act that is now proposed, the American people understand their security, but they understand their privacy and their civil liberties. The intent of this report is to provide Congress with information regarding the effectiveness of protecting the privacy of Americans. We have gone through too much--we have been through too much hacking, and we have lost too much personal data from a number of retail entities and elsewhere--for the American people not to be protected. This amendment will result in the sole external report on the privacy and civil liberties' impact of the programs created under this bill. I ask that my colleagues support the Jackson Lee-Polis amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the chair for his comments. Mr. Chairman, privacy is of great concern to the American public in a digital economy where personal information is one of the most valuable assets of successful online business. Again, I ask for support of the Jackson Lee-Polis amendment. Mr. Chair, I offer my thanks to Chairman McCaul, and Ranking Member Thompson for their leadership and work on H.R. 1731, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015 to the floor for consideration. The bipartisan work done by the House Committee on Homeland Security brought before the House this opportunity to defend our Nation against cyber threats. I thank Congressman Polis for joining me in sponsoring this amendment. The Jackson Lee-Polis amendment to H.R. 1731 is simple and would improve the bill. The Jackson Lee-Polis amendment states that, not later than 60 months after the date of this act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs of the Senate an assessment on the impact of privacy and civil liberties limited to the work of the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center. The intent of the report is to provide Congress with information regarding the effectiveness of protecting the privacy of Americans. This amendment would result in the sole external report on the privacy and civil liberties' impact of the programs created under this bill. Privacy is of great concern to the American public in a digital economy where personal information is one of the most valuable assets of successful online businesses. Having detailed information on consumers allows companies to better tailor services and products to meet the needs of consumers. Instead of relying on surveys to try to determine what consumers want, companies know what they want through their online and increasingly offline activities that are recorded and analyzed. In 2014, a report on consumers' views of their privacy published by the Pew Center found that a majority of adults surveyed felt that their privacy is being challenged along such core dimensions as the security of their personal information and their ability to retain confidentiality. 91% of adults in the survey believe that consumers have lost control over how personal information is collected and used by companies. 88% of adults believe that it would be very difficult to remove inaccurate information about them online. 80% of those who use social networking sites believe they are concerned about third parties accessing their data. 70% of social networking site users have some concerns about the government accessing some of the information they share on social networking sites without their knowledge. For this reason, the Jackson Lee amendment providing an independent report to the public on how their privacy and civil liberties are treated under the implementation of this bill is important. I ask that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle support this amendment. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. This is a comprehensive approach, Mr. Chairman, to the issue of cybersecurity and national cybersecurity protection. The amendment that I am offering now states that the Secretary of Homeland Security may consult with sector-specific agencies, businesses, and stakeholders to produce and submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on how best to align federally funded cybersecurity research and development activities with private sector efforts to protect privacy and civil liberties while assuring the security and resilience of the Nation's critical infrastructure. Again, I can recount the incidences that have brought this issue to the attention of the American people. Certainly, one of the most striking were the actions of Mr. Snowden's, so it is important that we develop research that really blocks those who would intend to do wrong, or ill, to the American people. The amendment includes a cybersecurity research and development objective to enable the secure and resilient design and construction of critical infrastructure and more secure accompanying cyber technology. We want it to be impenetrable. We want to have a firewall that stands as a firewall. I believe that we have the capacity to have the R&D to do so. The public benefit of this amendment is that it will make sure, as innovations occur in the private sector that can improve privacy and civil liberties protections, that they will be adopted by DHS for its programs established by this bill. Mr. Chairman, I ask for support of the Jackson Lee amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentleman from Texas. Mr. Chairman, again, the American people deserve the kind of investigatory work that results in R&D that provides the kind of armor against the attacks that we have noted are possible and have occurred. With that, I ask for the support of the Jackson Lee amendment. Mr. Chair, I offer my thanks to Chairman McCaul, and Ranking Member Thompson for their leadership and work on H.R. 1731, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015. This is the final of three Jackson Lee amendments offered to this legislation. The Jackson Lee-Polis amendment to H.R. 1731 is simple and would improve the bill. The amendment states that the Secretary of Homeland Security may consult with sector-specific agencies, businesses, and stakeholders to produce and submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on how best to align federally funded cybersecurity research and development activities with private sector efforts to protect privacy and civil liberties, while assuring the security and resilience of the Nation's critical infrastructure. The amendment includes a cybersecurity research and development objective to enable the secure and resilient design and construction of critical infrastructure and more secure accompanying cyber technology. Finally, this Jackson Lee amendment would support investigation into enhanced computer-aided modeling capabilities to determine potential impacts on critical infrastructure of incidents or threat scenarios and cascading effects on other sectors and facilitating initiatives to incentivize cybersecurity investments and the adoption of critical infrastructure design features that strengthen cybersecurity and resilience. The ability to stay current and at the leading edge of innovation in the fast-moving world of computing technology will be a challenge, but one that the Department of Homeland Security can meet. The Jackson Lee amendment lays the foundation for an array of collaborative efforts centered on learning as much as possible about critical infrastructure operations and technologies, then using that knowledge to discover how best to defend against cyber-based threats. I ask that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle support this amendment. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel and to reaffirm the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and Israel. Israel was created in 1948; it took President Truman only 11 minutes to recognize the new Jewish State. Since then, Israel has come to exist as the only true democracy in the Middle East. Israel and the United States have many of the same foundations of government: freedom of religion, free speech, basic human rights, the rule of law and being a nation of immigration and diversity. In addition, it is a home to many religious sites which are sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and attracts multitudes of visitors every year. Israel provided a refuge to Jews who survived the horrors of the Holocaust and the evils committed by the Nazis which were unprecedented in human history. The people of Israel have established a unique, pluralistic democracy which includes the freedoms cherished by the people of the United States, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, freedom of the press, and government by the consent of the governed. Israel continues to serve as an example of democratic values by regularly holding free and fair elections, promoting the free exchange of ideas, and vigorously exercising in its Parliament, the Knesset, a democratic government that is fully representative of its citizens. I applaud the Government of Israel for successfully working with the neighboring Governments of Egypt and Jordan to establish peaceful, bilateral relations. I have had the privilege of visiting Israel many times, and observing firsthand her great achievements in the areas of medical research, technology, business, and the arts. Mr. Speaker, the 67th anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel is an occasion for us to reflect and reaffirm the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and Israel. The United States and Israel enjoy a strategic partnership based on shared mutual democratic values, friendship, and respect. The people of the United States share affinity with the people of Israel and view Israel as a strong and trusted ally. I hope this friendship continues to grow and blossom for decades to come.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, this morning, we will be addressing the issue of cybersecurity, one of the responsibilities of the Homeland Security Department and of the Homeland Security Committee. In a briefing, many of us had the opportunity to hear a number of challenging and difficult representations regarding the gyrocopter. Let me simply say that the responsibility of this Nation and of this government is to protect its citizens, and I am appalled at what seems to be the inability or the inaction of certain agencies. I stand today on the floor of the House to say that it is intolerable and unacceptable when tourists and Americans come to their capital. I want them to expect the highest grade of security for their families, for their peace of mind. The Commander in Chief resides in Washington, D.C. That Commander in Chief has the right to have the highest degree of security. I would ask, Mr. Speaker, that we immediately demand a response from the appropriate agencies so that nothing of this kind happens ever again.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Chair, how much time is remaining?

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Chair, I thank the manager and the chairman and ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee for their service and leadership. I offer this amendment that I believe will answer a question that has been raised by many Members but really has bipartisan support. This amendment is offered as a Jackson Lee-Polis amendment, and the specifics of it say: ``Not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the actions taken by the Federal Government to remove personal information from cyber threat indicators pursuant to section 4(b).'' Again, this relates to the concern that many of us will hear over and over again from our constituents. In the world of hacking and mistakes and misdirection and unfairness and terrorism, it is important to secure this Nation and to be able to have the right information. As I serve as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I believe we have to have information to thwart terrorist acts and protect the homeland. But there is a public benefit to my amendment. This amendment will provide the public assurance from a reliable and trustworthy source that their privacy and civil liberties are not being compromised. We are a State and a Nation born out of the existence of the Bill of Rights. Along with the Constitution, it has framed a democracy, but it has also framed the preciousness of individual rights and privacy. I offer this amendment, again, to emphasize the importance of privacy that is so very important. The Jackson Lee-Polis amendment provides, again, for a Government Accountability Act report to Congress on the actions taken by the Federal Government to remove personal information from data shared through the programs established by this statute. The intent of the report, as indicated, is to provide Congress with information regarding the effectiveness of protecting the privacy of Americans. Again, this amendment would result in the sole external report on the privacy and civil liberties impact of the programs created under this bill. Privacy is of great concern to the American people. I know that because, as we were doing the Patriot Act in the shadow of the heinous acts of 9/11, I will tell you that large voices were raised, particularly out of the Judiciary Committee and in working with the Intelligence Committee, about the issues of privacy. Americans understand that. Privacy is of great concern to the American public. Privacy involves the handling and protection of personal information. And as well, when personal information is improperly accessed, used, or abused, it can cause financial and personal harm to those whose data is involved. Madam Chair, may I ask how much time is remaining?

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Chair, I ask my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee amendment. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), the distinguished ranking member.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me quickly say that a report on consumer views on the privacy issue published by the Pew Center found that a majority of adults surveyed felt that their privacy is being challenged along such core dimensions as the security of their personal information and their ability to retain confidentiality. It is for this reason that I believe the Jackson Lee amendment, in conjunction with the underlying legislation, H.R. 1560, will be an added asset to ensure that the personal data, privacy, and civil liberties of Americans are protected. Madam Chair, I offer my thanks to Chairman Nunes, and Ranking Member Schiff for their leadership and work on H.R. 1560. The bipartisan work done by the House Select Committee on Intelligence resulted in H.R. 1560 being brought before the House for consideration. I offer acknowledgement to Congressman Polis in joining me in sponsoring this amendment. The Jackson Lee-Polis Amendment to H.R. 1560 is simple and would improve the bill. Jackson Lee Amendment designated #5 on the list of amendments approved for H.R. 1560: The Jackson Lee-Polis Amendment provides for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress on the actions taken by the Federal Government to remove personal information from data shared through the programs established by this statute. The intent of the report is to provide Congress with information regarding the effectiveness of protecting the privacy of Americans. This amendment would result in the sole external report on the privacy and civil liberties impact of the programs created under this bill. Privacy is of great concern to the American public. Privacy involves the handling and protection of personal information that individuals provide in the course of everyday commercial transactions. When personal information is improperly accessed, used, or abused it can cause financial and personal harm to the people whose data is involved. A report on consumer views on their privacy published by the Pew Center found that a majority of adults surveyed felt that their privacy is being challenged along such core dimensions as the security of their personal information and their ability to retain confidentiality. For this reason, the Jackson Lee amendment providing an independent report to the public on how their privacy and civil liberties are treated under the implementation of this bill is important. I ask that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle support this amendment. I ask that the amendment be supported, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the Speaker and acknowledge that 1965 is a very unique and special year. It is the commemoration of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, which symbolized to the world the cry and passion to have your voices heard through the vote. I stand here today asking this body and its leadership to put on the floor of the House the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a bill that was reauthorized in 2006, 2007, under the leadership of President George W. Bush and the Members of the United States Congress, in a bipartisan manner. The vote in the Senate was 98-0, and we had an equally impressive vote here in the United States House of Representatives. The question would be why, a simple task of updating this legislation to ensure that thousands, maybe millions, are not denied the right to vote. I start with that because the walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge was particularly brutal, and I want to give credit to all those who marched, many names that I know, our own colleague John Lewis, Hosea Williams, and many that we have met over the years in Selma. They marched and stood nonviolently against violence and, might I say, under the auspices of the misinterpretation of the law, those law enforcement officers--misguided, of course--that stopped those individuals from expressing their rights. Today, I come to match the need for the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act to the enormous need, in a bipartisan manner, to reform our criminal justice system. Over the news airwaves of the last 24 hours, right here in Washington, D.C., there was a statement about a young father who stood on his doorsteps in Fairfax, Virginia, that, finally, his two beautiful daughters had a settlement from that law enforcement department. He was shot on his doorsteps. The facts are such that I won't discuss today, but one can almost assume that that father did not need to lose his life. Yesterday, the #marchtojustice, the Justice League of New York City, came to the west lawn to petition the government to end racial profiling and to begin to address the question of how do we have a criminal justice system that meets the equality and justice of America. Sadly, just a few miles a way, in Baltimore, we understand that a young man was picked up and, ultimately, went into a coma and died. What happened in the midst of the time where his spinal cord was nearly severed in the custody of law enforcement officers? Let me be very clear. As a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, my commitment is that law enforcement officers go home to their families. In a few days, we will be honoring those who fell in the line of duty. We will be standing and respecting the fact that they provide a protection for this Nation and they serve us. We thank them for that. But we must come to a point where we hold the Constitution dear and that citizens of the United States have the right to access and speech and protest and that protesters are not dangerous outsiders. Mr. Speaker, I have introduced two initiatives that I would ask my colleagues to join me on, initiatives that should draw bipartisan support. One is the Build TRUST legislation that simply indicates that there should be a process by which local jurisdictions use various citations and nuisance citations and stopping people on the street as a source of revenue, the same kind of issue that confronted Eric Garner-- who, by the way, Mr. Speaker, was a large man who everybody knew, who was simply trying to support his family, maybe selling a few cigarettes. No one has suggested that, dealing with the laws of New York, that that wasn't against the law. What we are saying is that Eric Garner did not need to, in essence, lose his life, nor did Walter Scott in South Carolina, shot five times in the back because he ran. We are legislators. We know the law. We understand that there is a framework for dealing with police officers, and we need to get there. The Build TRUST bill says, however, that you cannot heavily burden a particular community, and you must report where all your revenue is coming from in terms of, if it is overly excessive, then you will lose Federal funds because we know that you are going into certain communities. The other is the CADET Act, which I hope will draw bipartisan support. It does what South Carolina is doing. It codifies the collection of data of lethal force by law enforcement and citizens. Mr. Speaker, it is time now to use the CADET bill for the science of criminal justice reform and the Build TRUST bill to rebuild trust and have police accountability. I believe that this 50th year of Selma, Mr. Speaker, pushes us to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act and move toward a just criminal justice reform.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the Rule governing debate on H.R. 1731 and H.R. 1560. I support the Rule for H.R. 1731 and H.R. 1569 because it: 1. provides for consideration of important improvements to both bills; 2. makes clear the role of the Department of Homeland Security in securing civil government networks; and 3. the responsibilities of DHS in assist private sector entities in improving overall cybersecurity for themselves and their customers. The bipartisan process that the Homeland Security Committee followed through the leadership of Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Thompson is an example of what can be accomplished when partisanship is removed from the policymaking equation. I would also like to thank Chairman Sessions and Ranking Member Slaughter as well as members of the Rules Committee for making 4 of my amendments in order. I join my colleagues in the work to secure our nation's cybersecurity, while preserving the privacy and civil liberties of our citizens. The road to today began in 2011, when President Obama took several steps to move the issue of cybersecurity to the forefront by: 1. releasing a cybersecurity legislative proposal; 2. calling on Congress to take urgent action to give the private sector and government the tools needed to combat cyber threats at home and abroad; and 3. issuing the International Strategy for Cyberspace to make clear to nations abroad that the United States was firmly committed to improving cybersecurity and combating cyber terrorism. I will be offering several amendments as the two bills are considered. The Jackson Lee amendments are simple and will improve the privacy protections already in the bills and allow the Department of Homeland Security to become a better partner with the private sector in its work to improve domestic cybersecurity. One of the Jackson Lee amendments that will be offered to the both bills will improve privacy and civil liberties by providing the public with a report from the Government Accountability Office that their privacy and civil liberties are not being compromised by the programs established by this bill. Other Jackson Lee Amendments to H.R. 1731 will include an assurance that DHS's remains current on innovations: 1. on data security that can improve privacy and civil liberties protections; 2. in industrial control systems to keep pace with industry adoption of new technologies; and industry best practices; and 3. that can aid DHS in aligning federally funded cybersecurity research and development with private sector efforts to protect privacy and civil liberties. These amendments will make sure that technology and equipment purchased with taxpayer dollars provided to ensure cybersecurity will remain current and focused on real-world applications that reflect constitutional values and how businesses and industry function. An important building block for improving the Nation's cybersecurity is ensuring that private entities can collaborate to share timely cyber threat information with each other and the Federal Government. The Administration is expressing concerns with H.R. 1560's broad liability protections offered to companies that sharing information with federal government programs established under this bill. Appropriate liability protections should be established that incentivize good cybersecurity practices and would not grant immunity to a private company for failing to act on information it receives about the security of its networks. The important component of cybersecurity is that computer network owners and managers will act to improve cyber defense of their systems when provided with information that vulnerabilities in their computer networks exist. Legislation should not provide incentives for companies not to act when presented with evidence of network cyber security vulnerabilities. Electronic data breaches involving Sony, Target, Home Depot, Neiman Marcus, JPMorgan Chase, and Athem are only a few of the cyber incidents that have plagued private sector networks. These data breaches also are a reminder that the Internet is not yet what it must become to continue to meet the remote communication needs of a global marketplace. As with other threats this nation has faced in the past and overcome we must create the resources and the institutional responses to protect our nation while preserving our liberties and freedoms. We cannot accomplish the task of better cybersecurity without the cooperation and full support of citizens; the private sector; local state and federal government; computing research community; and academia. This level of cooperation requires the trust and confidence of the American people that the actions taken by government to combat cyber threats will not threaten our way of life nor our hard fought Constitutional rights. H.R. 1731 makes clear that the Department of Homeland Security will be the federal government agency responsible for securing civilian government networks and supporting voluntary efforts by private sector companies and institutions to improve coordination and response to cyber security threats. The issues regarding liability protection related to cybersecurity must be addressed in order for H.R. 1560 and H.R. 1731 to have any chance of succeeding. It is my understanding that Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Thompson have reached agreement on language that addresses concerns that have been raised regarding liability. There are talented and resourceful people outside and inside of government who can inform Congress on approaches to information sharing that will yield the desired results without compromising privacy or civil liberties.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 25, which authorizes the use of the Capitol grounds for the National Peace Officers Memorial Service and the National Honor Guard and Pipe Band Exhibition. It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is the nation's monument to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. Dedicated on October 15, 1991, the Memorial honors federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety and protection of our nation and its people. Carved on its walls are the names of 20,538 officers who have been killed in the line of duty throughout U.S. history, dating back to the first known death in 1791. Added to the Wall this year will be the names of the 117 police officers killed in the line of duty in 2014. Mr. Speaker, enshrined on the Memorial Wall of Honor also are the names of 1,695 fallen peace officers from the state of Texas, the most of any state, including 114 members of the Houston Police Department who gave their lives to keep their city safe. I ask unanimous consent to include a list of these fallen heroes from Houston, Texas. Mr. Speaker, today there are more than 900,000 law enforcement personnel serving the people of our country, the highest amount ever. About 12 percent of them are female. These brave men and women risk their lives to keep the peace and keep us safe but they are too often taken by the violence they are working to prevent. Every year, a law enforcement officer is killed somewhere in the United States every 60 hours, and there are also 58,930 assaults against our law officers each year, resulting in 15,404 injuries. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Law Enforcement Caucus I am proud to represent the people of the 18th Congressional District of Texas in paying tribute to the 117 fallen heroes who will be joining the 20,538 gallant men and women who gave the last full measure of devotion to the communities they took an oath to protect and serve. Mr. Speaker, I ask for a moment of silence in memory of the officers whose names will be added to the National Peace Officers Memorial Wall of Honor. Houston Law Enforcement Officers Memorialized on the Wall of Honor 1. Timothy Scott Abernethy, End of Watch: December 7, 2008, Houston, Texas, P.D. 2. Charles H Baker, End of Watch: August 16, 1979, Houston, Texas, P.D. 3. Johnny Terrell Bamsch, End of Watch: January 30, 1975, Houston, Texas, P.D. 4. Claude R Beck, End of Watch: December 10, 1971, Houston, Texas, P.D. 5. Jack B Beets, End of Watch: March 30, 1955, Houston, Texas, P.D. 6. Troy A Blando, End of Watch: May 19, 1999, Houston, Texas, P.D. 7. James Charles Boswell, End of Watch: December 9, 1989, Houston, Texas, P.D. 8. C E Branon, End of Watch: March 20, 1959, Houston, Texas, P.D. 9. John M Cain, End of Watch: August 3, 1911, Houston, Texas, P.D. 10. Richard H Calhoun, End of Watch: October 10, 1975, Houston Texas Police Department 11. Dionicio M Camacho, End of Watch: October 23, 2009, Harris County, Texas, S.O. 12. Henry Canales, End of Watch: June 23, 2009, Houston, Texas, P.D. 13. Frank Manuel Cantu Jr, End of Watch: March 25, 2004, Houston, Texas, P.D. 14. E C Chavez, End of Watch: September 17, 1925, Houston, Texas, P.D. 15. Charles Roy Clark, End of Watch: April 3, 2003, Houston, Texas, P.D. 16. Charles Robert Coates II, End of Watch: February 23, 1983, Houston, Texas, P.D. 17. Pete Corrales, End of Watch: January 25, 1925, Houston, Texas, P.D. 18. Rufus E Daniels, End of Watch: August 23, 1917, Houston, Texas, P.D. 19. Johnnie Davidson, End of Watch: February 19, 1921, Houston, Texas, P.D. 20. Worth Davis, End of Watch: June 17, 1928, Houston, Texas, P.D. 21. Keith Alan Dees, End of Watch: March 7, 2002, Houston, Texas, P.D. 22. Reuben Becerra Deleon Jr, End of Watch: October 26, 2005, Houston, Texas, P.D. 23. William Edwin Deleon, End of Watch: March 29, 1982, Houston, Texas, P.D. 24. Floyd T Deloach Jr, End of Watch: June 30, 1965, Houston, Texas, P.D. 25. George D Edwards, End of Watch: June 30, 1939, Houston, Texas, P.D. 26. Dawn Suzanne Erickson, End of Watch: December 24, 1995, Houston, Texas, P.D. 27. J C Etheridge, End of Watch: August 23, 1924, Houston, Texas, P.D. 28. James E Fenn, End of Watch: March 14, 1891, Houston, Texas, P.D. 29. E D Fitzgerald, End of Watch: September 30, 1930, Houston, Texas, P.D. 30. C Edward Foley, End of Watch: March 10, 1860, Houston, Texas, P.D. 31. Joseph Robert Free, End of Watch: October 18, 1912, Houston, Texas, P.D. 32. Guy P Gaddis, End of Watch: January 31, 1994, Houston, Texas, P.D. 33. James T Gambill, End of Watch: December 1, 1936, Houston, Texas, P.D. 34. Florentino M Garcia Jr, End of Watch: November 10, 1989, Houston, Texas, P.D. 35. Ben Eddie Gerhart, End of Watch: June 26, 1968, Houston, Texas, P.D. 36. G Q Gonzalez, End of Watch: February 28, 1960, Houston, Texas, P.D. 37. Charles R Gougenheim, End of Watch: April 30, 1955, Houston, Texas, P.D. 38. Carl Greene, End of Watch: March 14, 1928, Houston, Texas, P.D. 39. Leon Griggs, End of Watch: January 31, 1970, Houston, Texas, P.D. 40. Maria Michelle Groves, End of Watch: April 10, 1987, Houston, Texas, P.D. 41. Gary Allen Gryder, End of Watch: June 29, 2008, Houston, Texas, P.D. 42. Antonio Guzman JF, End of Watch: January 9, 1973, Houston, Texas, P.D. 43. Howard B Hammond, End of Watch: August 18, 1946, Houston, Texas, P.D. 44. James Donald Harris, End of Watch: July 13, 1982, Houston, Texas, P.D. 45. David Michael Healy, End of Watch: November 12, 1994, Houston, Texas, P.D. 46. Timothy A Hearn, End of Watch: June 8, 1978, Houston, Texas, P.D. 47. Oscar Hope, End of Watch: June 22, 1929, Houston, Texas, P.D. 48. Elston M Howard, End of Watch: July 20, 1988, Houston, Texas, P.D. 49. David Huerta, End of Watch: September 19, 1973, Houston, Texas, P.D. 50. James Bruce Irby, End of Watch: June 27, 1990, Houston, Texas, P.D. 51. Bobby L James, End of Watch: June 26, 1968, Houston, Texas, P.D. 52. John C James, End of Watch: December 12, 1901, Houston, Texas, P.D. 53. Rodney Joseph Johnson, End of Watch: September 21, 2006, Houston, Texas, P.D. 54. Ed Jones, End of Watch: September 13, 1929, Houston, Texas, P.D. 55. P P Jones, End of Watch: January 30, 1927, Houston, Texas, P.D. 56. Frank L Kellogg, End of Watch: November 30, 1955, Houston, Texas, P.D. 57. S A Buster Kent, End of Watch: January 12, 1954, Houston, Texas, P.D. 58. James F Kilty, End of Watch: April 8, 1976, Houston, Texas, P.D. 59. Kent Dean Kincaid, End of Watch: May 23, 1998, Houston, Texas, P.D. 60. Louis R Kuba, End of Watch: May 17, 1967, Houston, Texas, P.D. 61. J D Landry, End of Watch: December 3, 1930, Houston, Texas, P.D. 62. Robert Wayne Lee, End of Watch: January 31, 1971, Houston, Texas, P.D. 63. Fred Maddox Jr, End of Watch: February 24, 1954, Houston, Texas, P.D. 64. Eydelmen Mani, End of Watch: May 19, 2010, Houston, Texas, P.D. 65. A P Marshall, End of Watch: November 8 1937, Houston, Texas, P.D. 66. Charles R Mcdaniel, End of Watch: August 4, 1963, Houston, Texas, P.D. 67. E G Meinke, End of Watch: August 23, 1917, Houston, Texas, P.D. 68. Harry Mereness, End of Watch: October 18, 1933, Houston, Texas, P.D. 69. Noel R Miller, End of Watch: June 6, 1958, Houston, Texas, P.D.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Honda for hosting this very important Special Order this evening. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury for women in America. More often than not, cases of violence against women go unreported. Over 80% of women who were victimized experienced significant short- term and long-term impacts related to the violence and were more likely to experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and long-term chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes. Every year in the United States, 1,000 to 1,600 women die at the hands of their male partners, often after a long, escalating pattern of battering. In 2009, 111 women were killed by their former or current husband, intimate partner or boyfriend in the State of Texas. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury for women in America. Every nine seconds a woman in the United States is assaulted or beaten by stalkers or her partner. Another form of violence against women is sex trafficking. Trafficking ensnares millions of women and girls in modern-day slavery. According to the FBI, sex trafficking is the fastest-growing business of organized crime and the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world. More than 300,000 American children are at risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking annually in what is estimated to be a $9.8 billion industry. Women and girls represent 55 per cent of the estimated 20.9 million victims of forced labor worldwide and 98 per cent of the estimated 4.5 million forced into sexual exploitation. Similar to current sex trafficking crimes is the past atrocity of the crimes that were committed towards the Korean women. The ``comfort women'' system of forced military prostitution by the Government of Japan, considered unprecedented in its cruelty and magnitude, included gang rape, forced abortions, humiliation, and sexual violence resulting in mutilation, death, or eventual suicide in one of the largest cases of human trafficking in the 20th century. Today, there are now only just 59 known survivors that were comfort Korean victims. There are about 200,000 women are estimated to have worked as comfort women in Japan's military brothels. Today, the comfort women issue remains taboo and controversial topic, just like other violent crimes committed to women. These women are not victims but also survivors, survivors from a brutal crime. The comfort women issue is not just about the past, but it is very relevant today. The world's strength to oppose killing today is made greater by accountability, for actions present, but also past. It's weakened by denial of accountability and obfuscation of past acts. History is a continuum that affects today and tomorrow. Women everywhere should not be victims of such an atrocity. It's much harder to get tomorrow right if we get yesterday wrong. Today, we call on to the Japanese government to apologize to the few women who continue to live with the shame of the crimes committed against them.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, April 4, 1968 in an unforgettable day because on that day the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man of peace who devoted his life to nonviolence, was struck down by an assassin's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee. Sadly, April 4, 2015, will also take its place as a day of infamy because on that day in North Charleston, South Carolina, a man less celebrated but no less innocent, Walter Scott, was slain in an act of lethal violence that shocks the conscience. I rise today to extend my deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of Walter Scott, who was laid to rest this past Saturday, and call upon this Congress to enact legislation that will provide the resources and guidance needed for law enforcement personnel to maintain the trust and confidence and support of the communities they serve and the safeguards needed to protect our people from becoming victims of excessive or lethal force. Mr. Speaker, the problems revealed by several of the more notorious incidents involving the use of lethal force against unarmed citizens that have captured the attention of the nation over the past several months require a national response because the problems identified are not isolated or limited to one region of the country. For example, the death of 43 year-old Eric Garner resulting from the application of a NYPD police chokehold occurred in the Northeast and the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown and the resulting events in Ferguson occurred in the border state of Missouri. The killing of 12 year-old Tamir Rice by a Cleveland police officer occurred in the Midwest and death of unarmed 26 year-old Jordan Baker by an off-duty Houston police officer occurred in Texas. In Phoenix, Arizona, Rumain Brisbon, an unarmed black father of four, was shot to death when a police officer allegedly mistook his bottle of pills for a gun. In Pasdena, California, 19-year-old Kendrec McDade was chased and shot seven times by two police officers after a 911 caller falsely reported he had been robbed at gunpoint by two black men, neither of whom in fact was armed. And, of course, on April 4, the conscience of the nation was shocked by the horrifying killing of 50-year-old Walter Scott by a North Charleston police officer in the southern state of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, while the problem is national in scope, it appears to affect disproportionately and adversely a particular demographic group: African American males. Because all lives matter in our great nation, it is imperative that we in Congress act swiftly and decisively to focus much needed attention and resources on legislative proposals intended to address the problem of misuse of lethal force by law enforcement and to rebuild the public trust and confidence needed to ensure that law enforcement receive and maintain the support of the communities they serve and protect. As Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, I note that are several promising legislative criminal justice reform initiatives that have been introduced and are worthy of consideration. Among them are H.R. 59, the ``Build TRUST in Municipal Law Enforcement Act of 2015'' (Rep. Jackson Lee); H.R. 1459, the Democracy Restoration Act of 2015 (Rep. Conyers); H.R. 1810, the ``Collection and Analysis of Data to Educate and Train Law Enforcement Officers'' (``CADET Act''); H.R. 920, the ``Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015'' (Rep. Labrador); and S. 675, the ``Record Expungement Designed to Enhance Employment Act of 2015'' (REDEEM Act) (Sens. Paul and Booker). Mr. Speaker, earlier this year FBI Director James Comey delivered a remarkable speech at Georgetown University in which he laid out several hard truths about the administration of the criminal justice system and state of community policing in our country. One of the hardest truths discussed by Director Comey is the fact we have limited information and inadequate data regarding the scope and extent of the problems endemic in the criminal justice system. This lack of information hampers the ability of policymakers and administrators at the federal, state, and local level to identify and implement laws, policies, and practices to remedy identified problems. The Judiciary Committee should immediately conduct hearings to educate the Congress and the public on the nature and extent of deficiencies in the nation's criminal justice systems and the efficacy of proposed solutions. Specifically, hearings should be held to investigate practices and policies governing: 1. the use of lethal force by state and local police departments; 2. educational requirements, mental health and psychological evaluations, and training in non-violent conflict resolution received by veteran law enforcement officers and new recruits; and 3. the feasibility and efficacy of making greater use of technological devices such as body cameras. A fourth area to be explored is the state of the social science research in the academic study of criminal justice reform because there is much the Committee can learn by engaging leading experts in the field regarding the state of knowledge in their respective disciplines. Mr. Speaker, reforming the criminal justice system so that it dispenses justice impartially and equally to all persons is one of the most important challenges facing this Congress. And it is a goal that can be achieved if we work together in a spirit of goodwill and bipartisan cooperation. There are few things we can do that will provide a greater service to our nation.