Jerrold Nadler

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Soto).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, organizations, associations, and industry leaders from across the political spectrum oppose passage of H.R. 2, the child deportation act. They include among them the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Kids in Need of Defense, Unidos, and National Education Association. This bill is a microcosm of what we have seen in the first 4\1/2\ months of this new Republican majority, a chaotic majority that has no real interest in legislating or making positive change. Instead, they pass cruel and unworkable messaging bills that have no chance of becoming law and are dead in the U.S. Senate, and then they pat themselves on the back. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this draconian and unworkable bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER

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

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 734, the so-called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. I say so-called because there is really nothing in this bill to protect women and girls in sports. It is telling that every amendment submitted by a Democrat to actually strengthen protections, such as addressing unequal funding, was ruled out as not germane by Republicans. There are many real issues facing our Nation's women's and girls' sports teams, including disproportionate funding and resources compared to their male counterparts, but transgender athletes are not one of them. Every sports federation supports transgender athletes competing on an equal basis, seeing no inherent advantage in sports competition for transgender athletes. Transgender young people experience increased incidences of bullying, rejection, and discrimination, and nearly half of trans women and girls report seriously considering suicide in the past year. Why would we consider this hateful legislation that aims to isolate an already vulnerable group of children further? Mr. Chair, I am proud to have been the first Member of Congress to speak out in support of transgender rights on the House floor. I do not support traumatizing young children by subjecting them to intrusive genital inspections. Mr. Chair, I am proud to urge my colleagues to oppose this hateful bill.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I thank Ranking Member Grijalva for yielding and for his leadership in opposition to the polluters over people act. I must say that the concern of the gentleman from New Jersey--we just heard about ocean animals--is touching, considering the effect that climate change will have on all wildlife and all of us, for that matter. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this bad faith amendment aimed at slowing our Nation's transition to the affordable clean energy economy we need to address the climate crisis and create good-paying American jobs. With nearly 164,000 New Yorkers already working in the clean energy industry, the State is expected to create more than 10,000 additional jobs through its commitment to developing 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy in the coming years. Mr. Chairman, if you are worried about the potential adverse effects of wind energy development, you will be pleased to know that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is already required to perform substantial environmental reviews. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's Renewable Energy Program subject matter experts are best equipped to analyze potential environmental and industry impacts of offshore wind. Considering this, it is strange that my colleague from New Jersey is supporting an appropriations request to defund the Renewable Energy Program. It is also strange that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim to worry about the industry's impact on whales when most of them oppose the North Atlantic right whale vessel strike reduction rule. The data shows that most whale killings are attributed to vessel strikes. Again, Mr. Chairman, this is a bad faith attack on offshore wind, and I urge my colleagues to oppose it.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of my esteemed constituents, Alvin Perlmutter. Alvin is the Executive Producer and Director of the Independent Production Fund, and President of Alvin H. Perlmutter, Inc. and has produced highly acclaimed informational programming for over fifty years. Prior to forming his own company, Mr. Perlmutter served as NBC News Vice President where he was responsible for all network documentaries and news magazine programs, and earlier as Director of Public Affairs Programming and Program Manager of WNBC-TV, New York. Born and raised in Poughkeepsie, New York, he attended Colgate University and graduated from Syracuse University. Early in his career he was a radio newscaster before serving as Radio-TV Officer in the U.S. 1st Army coordinating with major broadcast networks in the Eastern U.S. Mr. Perlmutter has received numerous awards including six Emmys for The Great American Dream Machine, Adam Smith's Money World, and Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers; the Peabody Award for The Public Mind with Bill Moyers; and five Ace Awards for excellence in programming on cable television for Consumer Reports Presents, Everything You Want to Know About Smoking and Money Matters. Mr. Perlmutter originated more than 150 documentaries ranging from investigative to social to cultural issues for National Educational Television (NET) including: NET Journal, Assignment America, Black Journal, The Drinking American, Speak out on Drugs, China from Mao to Mastercard and several art specials from Europe, Russia and the Far East. These documentaries have included: The Constitution in Crisis, The Creative Spirit, Great Tales in Asian Art, The Public Mind, Whose Death is it Anyway?, The Emperor's Eye: Art and Power in Imperial China and The Priceless Treasures of Dresden. He is a former National Trustee of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and a past Governor of the Academy's New York Chapter. He also served as a member of the Overseas Press Club of America and chairman of the board of both the Washington-based Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting and the Anti-Defamation League Dore Schary Awards Committee. He was a member of the board of directors of the New York Open Center, the Rockland Center for the Arts, was Chairman of the Board of Advisors of CUNY-TV, the City University's Television Station and testified before the U.S. Senate as President of the Public Television Producers Association. He was a member of the State of New York Governors Commission on Judicial Nominations.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in opposition to this resolution, and I want to associate myself with the remarks of the chairman and the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. For all those reasons, we cannot withdraw our 900 troops now because of what was said about ISIS. But in addition to that, we are defending the Kurds against certain slaughter at the hands of the Peshmerga if we were to withdraw our troops. The Turks, as we know, are supporting the Peshmerga. In addition to which, if we were to withdraw our troops, that increases the worry that Israel has to have about Iran, and that increases the odds of a conflict between Israel and Iran, which is the last thing the Middle East needs or the world needs. For all these reasons, I strongly urge this body to reject this resolution. We truly should review all of the AUMFs we have lying around. I didn't know we had one from 1991. This resolution is the wrong vehicle, and it is productive of chaos and probably slaughter. I, therefore, oppose it.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 50th anniversary of the NYPD 19th Precinct Community Council. Precinct Community Councils have existed in various forms in New York since the 1940's and provide the community with a direct line of communication to their local NYPD precinct. Council members regularly meet with the precinct Commanding Officer and Community Affairs Officers to discuss public safety issues, provide feedback and input regarding local policing services, and organize events like street fairs and beautification programs for the neighborhood. Since 1973, the NYPD 19th Precinct Community Council has brought together residents who volunteer their time and resources to ensure that the Upper East Side is a safe and thriving neighborhood. In addition to hosting an annual street fair that raises funds to assist with the needs of the precinct and sponsoring a National Night Out Against Crime event every summer, the Council constantly seeks to provide new opportunities for the public to interface with their local police officers and promote crime prevention awareness. The Council has also sponsored and recruited volunteers for NYPD initiatives including the Court Monitoring and Block Watchers programs. I applaud the NYPD 19th Precinct Community Council and its volunteers for their commitment to pubic safety and the quality of life of their neighbors. I am proud to honor the Council's contributions to the Upper East Side over the past fifty years and recognize it as a successful model for police-community partnerships across the city. The legacy of the Council's work will be felt for generations and I wish for its continued success in the years to come.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this resolution lists many Communist dictators, but it doesn't list any of the capitalist dictators--from Hitler to Mussolini to Franco to Salazar to Peron, and so many more, because the issue is not socialism, the issue is tyranny. The second issue is the progress of the American people. Because every single issue of progress from Medicare to Medicaid to the Affordable Care Act to public housing to Social Security has been called by Republican leaders at the time ``socialist.'' This is not an attack on tyranny. This is an attack on all of these programs. This is an attack on Medicare, on Social Security, on public housing, on Federal aid to education, on everything the Republicans have quoted ``socialist'' when they were first enacted, and they still want to get rid of.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank Moh Sharma for her tireless work for the House Judiciary Committee. Within the U.S. House of Representatives, Moh is an institution. Prior to serving on the Committee, Moh worked for Representative Judy Chu of California, the Democratic Caucus under then-Chairman Xavier Becerra, and the House Small Business Committee under then-Ranking Member Nydia Velazquez. In each of those jobs, with kindness and care, Moh made certain that her members were prepared for every hearing, every markup, and every trip to the House floor. She dispensed sage advice along with fact sheets, issue briefs, and summaries of floor activity. There is virtually no Democratic office in the House that has not worked with her on some project, and everyone with whom she has worked walks away impressed by her calm and her expertise. And, of course, Moh has been a mentor and role model to an entire generation of staffers on Capitol Hill. Over the years, she has served in various leadership positions within the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association, including as its president from 2013 to 2019 and as the founder of its advisory board. A graduate of the City University of New York School of Law, she has also served as president of the South Asian Bar Association of Washington, D.C. and remains on its board today. Underlying these achievements is a steady commitment to diversity, inclusion, and opportunity for all who would make America their home. Moh came to the Committee in 2019 to help with, and eventually to direct, our member services operation. As a member of my senior staff and one of the Committee's most trusted advisors, she oversaw our legislative agenda, whipped our markups, and managed our activity on the House floor. Moh seemed to know where every one of our members could be found at any moment we might need them--no small feat in the COVID-19 era--and managed to cajole more than one of us back into the hearing room for a key moment in a markup. This past Congress, no vote in our hearing room was taken without Moh first accounting for every member of the Committee, and no vote was gaveled closed without a knowing nod from Moh to the Chair. The quality of her work is evident. l know--from a report that Moh herself compiled--that, in the 117th Congress alone, our Committee marked up more than 100 bills, passed more than 100 bills on the House floor, and sent over 40 bills to President Biden for his signature. We owe every one of these victories, in no small part, to Moh's patience and persistence. Moh is not traveling far. She has joined the office of Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and the Committee's loss is most definitely the Leader's gain. Nevertheless, we will miss Moh very much. I thank her for her service to the Committee and I look forward, very much, to watching her contribute to the cause for many years to come.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise along with Rep. David Cicilline, longtime Chair of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, to thank Slade Bond for his service to the Committee on the Judiciary. Slade came to the Committee after serving as legislative counsel to Representative Hank Johnson. Prior to that, Slade was a law clerk for the Center for Democracy and Technology. Slade received his B.A. from Mary Washington College, his J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law, and his LL.M from the George Washington University Law School. Slade joined the Committee in March 2014, serving as Democratic Counsel and then Chief Democratic Counsel for the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial, and Antitrust Law. For the past 4 years, Slade has served as Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. Throughout his service on the Committee, Slade has provided Members and staff with strategic advice and leadership on a range of legal and policy issues related to competition, bankruptcy, arbitration, commercial contracts, and federal agencies. Slade also has acted as a generous mentor and advisor for junior colleagues on the Committee, setting an example as a superlative staff member. During his tenure as Chief Counsel for the Antitrust Subcommittee, Slade applied his keen intellect, conscientiousness, and creativity to advance the priorities of the Subcommittee. Slade supervised staff and led Member preparation for over two dozen hearings and markups, including a 29-hour markup that resulted in Committee passage of a suite of six bills to restore competition online. Notable among his many accomplishments is his leadership of a historic, 16-month, top-to-bottom investigation of competition in digital markets. Slade assembled a dedicated team of counsels, technologists, fellows, special assistants, and clerks to examine the dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google in the digital economy. He coordinated and supervised the team's review of nearly 1.3 million documents; interviews with more than 240 market participants, former employees of the investigated platforms, and other individuals; and holding of 7 hearings with testimony from 38 witnesses, including a hearing with the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. In addition, Slade cowrote, and managed the drafting of, the culmination of this investigation: a 450-page report entitled ``Investigation of Competition in Digital Markets: Majority Staff Report and Recommendations,'' which the Committee adopted in April 2021 and published in June 2022. Slade has developed a well-earned reputation for his excellent work with Members and staff from both parties, in both the House and the Senate, to shepherd important bills into law. These bills include legislation to reduce the cost of antitrust enforcement to taxpayers by modernizing merger filing fees, to protect our national security by requiring merging parties to disclose subsidies from foreign economic adversaries, to preserve the resources of state antitrust enforcers by exempting state enforcement of the federal antitrust laws from private multidistrict litigation, and to prohibit the enforceability of predispute arbitration agreements and non-disclosure agreements related to sexual-assault or sexual-harassment disputes. The Committee, and Congress, will greatly miss Slade, but we look forward to working with him in his new role as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legislative Affairs. We thank Slade for his tireless work ethic, acute attention to detail, impeccable work product, and enthusiasm for the mission of the Committee to ensure economic justice for American consumers, workers, and small businesses.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank Arya Hariharan for her service to the House Judiciary Committee and to honor her unwavering commitment to a vision of America that is safer, freer, and more just. Arya's early career prepared her well for her time on the Committee. She attended American University, where she played Division I varsity women's soccer and received a Presidential Merit Scholarship. She also graduated from the William & Mary School of Law, where she was the executive editor of the Environmental Law & Policy Review and the founding editor of the Business Law Review. After passing the bar, she worked for several nonprofit organizations dedicated to education and economic mobility, access to the justice system, and environmental preservation. Arya came to Capitol Hill in 2015 and served as Representative Hank Johnson's Legislative Director and Senior Legislative Counsel. In that role, she managed Mr. Johnson's policy agenda and prepared him for his work on the House Judiciary, House Armed Services, and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committees. In those early years on the Hill, she also began to develop a reputation as a fiercely loyal friend and counsel--protecting her coworkers and her Member from any threat, willing to take on any challenge in service of the larger cause. In 2017, as we settled in for what would be a years-long fight with an Administration that would challenge the Congress on a daily basis, the Democratic staff of the House Judiciary Committee had an opportunity to bring in some help. There was really only one choice. Arya joined us that year as Democratic Oversight Counsel--and perhaps it was only then that the battle was well and truly joined. In her position as Oversight Counsel and, later, as Chief Oversight Counsel, Arya oversaw our response to a rogue and often lawless Presidency, crafting our reaction to each new instance of abuse, obstruction, and public corruption. She helped to hold a sitting Attorney General in contempt of Congress. She was instrumental in the first and second impeachments of President Donald J. Trump. Throughout those long, difficult years, Arya could almost always be found in the heart of the fight, managing the staff, preparing the Members for battle, and holding us all to the highest possible standards. Arya never, ever enters our hearing room unprepared. Arya's competence and confidence have been key assets to the Committee. Her oversight team has helped to prepare the ground for hearings on almost every topic we cover. She has worked on domestic and foreign surveillance, domestic terrorism, sexual violence, gun violence, hate crimes, and cybersecurity, just to name a few of the many subjects she has handled in her time with us. She has helped to prepare nearly every sensitive witness to appear before the Committee in the past 5 years. Her ability to tell a story through a congressional hearing is unparalleled. Mr. Speaker, if you had only seen Arya locked in argument with an uncooperative witness or firmly correcting a staffer from across the aisle for some breach of protocol, you might be forgiven for thinking that Arya has an edge. And, make no mistake, she is one of the toughest people to sit in the counsel's chair in the two-century history of our Committee. But what you might miss, if you only saw her in the heat of battle, is a person deeply respected by the Members of this body and beloved by her friends and colleagues. There is no one I would rather have by my side in a fight than Arya Hariharan. Arya is leaving us for the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she will advance their oversight agenda. We thank Arya for her tireless service to the House Judiciary Committee, and we advise Senator Durbin to keep the candy drawer well stocked for the late nights ahead.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, what is one of the first things that Republicans do when they take over the House? They shaft the taxpayers and increase the budget deficit by $114 billion a year. By seeking to roll back the 87,000 additional personnel for the IRS, which is intended to replace a 20 percent reduction in head count in anticipated retirements, they guarantee that taxpayers will have to wait weeks for their phone calls to the IRS to be returned. They guarantee that the budget deficit will be increased by $114 billion for lack of audits of tax-avoiding multimillionaires. Shaft the taxpayers and increase the budget deficit by $114 billion. Great work, GOP.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this woefully incomplete resolution. I will begin by saying that I condemn violence in all its forms, including the threats, vandalism, and property destruction described in H. Con. Res. 3. I would also like to reiterate my condemnation of the attempted murder of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. That should go without saying. I am grateful that no one appears to have been physically injured in the vandalism incidents described in the resolution, and that law enforcement took Justice Kavanaugh's would-be assassin into custody before he could complete an act of violence. In a democracy, violence is never the answer in a political dispute, and it should be roundly condemned in all its forms. This resolution, however, is a transparent partisan ploy that is a woefully and unacceptably inadequate condemnation of violence. It comes in the context of extremist MAGA Republicans' effort to enact a total ban on abortion at both the State and Federal levels. In what appears to be a glaring omission to H. Con. Res. 3, my Republican colleagues refused to condemn the long, documented history of violence, murder, and mayhem perpetrated by anti-abortion extremists against abortion providers and their patients. According to the National Abortion Federation, since 1977 anti- abortion extremists have been responsible for 11 murders, 42 bombings, 196 arsons, 491 assaults, and thousands of incidents of criminal activities directed at patients, providers, and volunteers. Sadly, these incidents have increased dramatically in recent years. In 2021, abortion providers faced a 600 percent increase in stalking incidents, a 450 percent increase in clinic blockades, a 163 percent increase in reports of hoax devices or suspicious packages, a 129 percent increase in invasions, and a 128 percent increase in assault and battery compared to previous years. In some cases, violence against abortion providers has had deadly consequences. For example, in November 2015 a gunman murdered three people and injured nine others when he opened fire with an assault- style rifle at a Planned Parenthood health center in Colorado Springs. In January 2021, a gunman attacked a Planned Parenthood clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee, and later that year, the same clinic was burned to the ground by arsonists. Regardless of your position on abortion rights, Madam Speaker, it is important that we condemn all acts of violence, regardless of who is the ultimate target. I am concerned that by refusing to condemn violence against providers, this resolution will inadvertently send a signal to anti-abortion extremists that violence against abortion providers is justified by the vandalism described in the resolution. If this inadequate resolution could potentially fan the flames of political discord, what purpose then does it serve? The only purpose I can infer is that it is intended to placate the extreme elements of the anti-abortion movement while this Republican majority figures out how to pass a total nationwide ban on abortion. Let me be clear: Democrats stand with the majority of the American public and will oppose such a radical position. H. Con. Res. 3 is nothing more than a partisan political ploy designed to advance an extreme anti-abortion agenda and is not a serious effort to condemn political violence. Indeed, it may have the opposite effect on the American public because it purposely fails to condemn the thousands of threats, violent incidents, and attacks that abortion providers and patients have endured for decades at the hands of anti-abortion extremists. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, the resolution condemns violence at pro- life clinics but not at pro-choice clinics. That says it all. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), the ranking member of the Small Business Committee.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lois Frankel).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu).

Mr. NADLER. I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs. Fletcher).

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean), a member of the Judiciary Committee.