Jerrold Nadler

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from South Carolina.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), a member of the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues across the aisle seem to want to talk about everything but the subject matter of this bill, domestic terrorism. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Manning), to talk about domestic terrorism.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority leader of the House.

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

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the problem is not that the Republican Party is racist, except the Republican Party won't call out the racists in its midst. They won't call the insurrection on January 6 of last year what it is: an insurrection. They call it legitimate public discourse. It is not legitimate public discourse when police officers are attacked, when the Members of this House are attacked, when the Members of the Senate are attacked. That is domestic terrorism. Madam Speaker, too many Americans have felt the pain and horror of domestic terrorism striking in their communities. Many of these attacks are fueled by white supremacy and hatred targeted at racial and ethnic minorities. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend that this problem does not exist. We must confront this challenge head on. That is why I strongly support the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, which would identify the greatest domestic terror threats and would concentrate law enforcement resources to addressing those threats. I appreciated the Republicans supporting this last year. Why they won't support this--because they decided that terrorism doesn't have to be addressed--I don't know. That is terrible. Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Tom Goodkind, a true renaissance man and a beloved member of the Lower Manhattan community. Mr. Goodkind, who passed away from a chronic degenerative illness in February 2019 at the age of 65, will be honored by the Church Street School for Music and Art for his contributions to the school and community on April 8, 2022. An accountant by training, he moved to the Financial District in the late '80s and quickly became active in the Battery Park City community, Manhattan Community Board 1 (on which he served for decades) and local political clubs. Mr. Goodkind was a fierce advocate for expanding and retaining affordable housing in Lower Manhattan and produced comprehensive reports on rent stabilization and the neighborhood's affordable housing supply as the chair of Manhattan Community Board 1's Housing Task Force. He also advocated for the 5 World Trade Center site to include a fair number of affordable units, with set-asides for creative artists and September 11th survivors and responders. In addition to his dedication for community activism, his passion for music was a guiding force throughout his life. Mr. Goodkind had stints as a punk rocker and a music venue promoter before co-founding the acclaimed band The Washington Squares, a neo-folk trio that received a Grammy nomination. After the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Goodkind looked to the healing power of music to help rebuild Lower Manhattan. He founded and conducted the TriBattery Pops, the first NYC downtown all-volunteer community band in a century, that became an ever-present, animated staple at local community events. Mr. Goodkind remained an ardent supporter of local institutions that celebrated musical arts and strived to share the joy of music with New Yorkers and beyond. Mr. Goodkind's chronic degenerative illness was linked to the exposure to toxic dust that hung over Manhattan in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. The toll of the toxins and the subsequent illnesses they wrought to not only those who worked on the pile but also residents in my district like Mr. Goodkind who returned to their homes, cleaned up and revitalized this neighborhood laid bare the need for the federal government to provide survivors with quality health care and financial support. I was proud that after over a decade of fighting we passed the James Zadruga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 and its reauthorization in 2015, and we created and fully funded the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for survivors and responders. Mr. Goodkind is survived by his wife Jill, and daughters Olivia and Nicole who continue to further his legacy through their advocacy work for affordable housing, September llth survivor issues and support for the arts. Madam Speaker, I am proud to honor Tom Goodkind and his significant impacts on music and the lives of residents in Lower Manhattan that will be felt for years to come.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1017, I call up the bill (H.R. 3617) to decriminalize and deschedule cannabis, to provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, to provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), the distinguished chairman of the Democratic Caucus.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3617, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or the MORE Act, is long-overdue legislation that would reverse decades of failed Federal policies based on the criminalization of marijuana. It would also take steps to address the heavy toll these policies have taken across the country, particularly among communities of color. For far too long, we have treated marijuana as a criminal justice problem, instead of as a matter of personal choice and public health. Whatever one's views are on the use of marijuana for recreational or medicinal use, the policy of arrests, prosecution, and incarceration at the Federal level has proven both unwise and unjust. That is why the MORE Act would set a new path forward and would begin to correct some of the injustices of the last 50 years. The bill decriminalizes marijuana at the Federal level by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act. This change applies retroactively to prior and pending convictions. It does not, however, undermine the ability of States to apply their criminal laws to marijuana or to legalize and regulate it as they see fit. The bill also eliminates barriers to medical research, allows the VA to recommend medical marijuana to veterans living with PTSD, and it allows financial institutions to service the marijuana industry. It provides for expungement or resentencing of certain Federal marijuana arrests and convictions and supports expungement programs at the State and local levels. In addition, the bill authorizes a sales tax on marijuana sales and directs those revenues to an Opportunity Trust Fund to support communities harmed by the war on drugs. It also establishes a wide range of grant programs to support equal access to the benefits of decriminalization. When it comes to our immigration laws, the bill prospectively and retroactively ensures that marijuana will not be considered a controlled substance, directly mirroring the protection and relief under the criminal justice provisions of the bill. This protects individuals from the collateral consequences for marijuana activity and ensures that immigrants can participate in their State's legal cannabis industry. In recent years, 36 States and the District of Columbia have legalized medical cannabis. Nineteen States and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use. If States are the laboratories of democracy, it is long past time for the Federal Government to recognize that legalization has been a resounding success and that the conflict with Federal law has become untenable. While I am proud to be the sponsor of this legislation, there are many people who are responsible for getting us to this point today. I want to thank them for their efforts. This includes Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the mother of this movement, and Congressman Blumenauer, whose dogged persistence was critical to moving this legislation forward. Congressman Cohen has also been a long-time champion and an important voice in the movement for reform, as has Congresswoman Jackson Lee, who helped shepherd this legislation to the floor. I also want to thank Chairman Neal, who has been a critical partner in drafting the revenue provisions in this bill and in helping move this legislation to the floor, as well as Chairman McGovern, who structured a good debate on this bill. Finally, Speaker Pelosi, Whip Clyburn, and Chairman Jeffries have all been steadfast in their support of this legislation, and I want to particularly thank Majority Leader Hoyer for everything he has done to bring this bill to the floor. Mr. Speaker, criminal penalties for marijuana offenses, and the resulting collateral consequences, are unjust and harmful to our society. The MORE Act comprehensively addresses these injustices, and I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I would command the attention of the gentleman to the sections of the bill that deal with all the different problems he raised. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen), a member of the committee.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 3617.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, this bill will greatly reduce crime by redefining as not crimes things that are now considered crimes. And by releasing people in jail who should not be in jail, it will produce justice and it will reduce the expenses to the public. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who has been such a great champion in the fight for this legislation.

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

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority leader of the House.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), another great champion of this legislation.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter).