Jerrold Nadler

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

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

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I have one more speaker, and then I am prepared to close.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, 9 years ago, I stood here and called up for consideration the original 9/11 bill, the James Zadroga Act. I want to thank Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, and Majority Whip Clyburn for their roles in passing that bill, and now for moving us as quickly as possible to get this bill done. I also want to thank my colleagues from New York, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. King), for standing with me in this fight for so long, and to thank all the advocates, many of whom are here today, who have given so much and have worked so hard to pass this bill. Finally, I want to thank Lisette Morton, my longtime legislative director and director of policy planning and member services for the Committee on the Judiciary, who is leaving my team at the end of this month after nearly 20 years. Lisette worked for me on September 11, 2001, and she was tireless in her efforts to get a proper detoxification and cleanup after the attack in New York and to hold the EPA accountable for its failures. Without her fierce advocacy and dedication, there would be more victims today, and we would not be here considering this bill today. She will be greatly missed by this institution, by my staff, and by me. Now, Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. NADLER. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the illustrious 55-year career of acclaimed writer and Upper West Side resident Lore Segal nee Groszmann. Lore Segal was born to a Jewish middle-class family in Vienna, Austria in 1928. Shortly after Hitler's annexation of Austria in 1938, she participated in the first wave of the Kindertransport which brought thousands of children to safety in England. It was here she first began writing: Segal penned impassioned letters to refugee committees and potential sponsors advocating for her parents to be brought to England, ultimately resulting in her parents' arrival a year later with domestic laborers' visas. Although this effort reunited her family, her parents' roles as domestic laborers required Segal to live with foster families until she was eighteen. After earning her degree in English Literature from the University of London, Segal spent three years in the Dominican Republic, finally making her way to New York with her mother in 1951. Segal's writing career began in earnest when she began chronicling her experiences as a young emigre living with different families in England in series of articles in The New Yorker, which later formed the basis of her first novel, Other People's Houses, published in 1964. Segal's other works include five novels, including Shakespeare's Kitchen (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2008), eight children's books including Tell Me a Mitzi, translations such as The Juniper Tree, an adaptation of Grimm tales on which she collaborated with her friend Maurice Sendak, and innumerable short stories and essays. Lore Segal's most recent book is the 2019 collection of published and unpublished works entitled, The Journal I Did Not Keep: New and Selected Writing. Segal taught writing for almost thirty years at notable institutions, including as a tenured professor at University of Illinois at Chicago and Ohio State University, as well as Columbia University, Princeton, Sarah Lawrence and the 92 Y. She has also been recognized for her work with numerous awards and honors including a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants and O. Henry awards. What makes Segal's writing so enduring is the masterful way she balances the themes of displacement and otherness, central to her identities as a refugee and a foster child, with the emotions, humor and conflicts inherent to the universal human condition. Her work provides a unique insight into the immigrant perspective on the American Dream and the Jewish diaspora. Segal's contributions to the diverse community of immigrant voices who illustrate the complexities and vibrancy of American life are well-deserving of tribute. Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 55th Anniversary of Lore Segal's first publication, and in recognizing the amazing achievements and continued impact of her work.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, when a congressional committee issues a subpoena, compliance is not optional. We expect witnesses to testify when summoned. We expect the administration to comply with subpoenas and to provide us with the materials we require to do our jobs. Of course, there may be differences between the Congress and the executive branch as to what information can be produced on a timely basis. When those differences arise, we are required to seek a reasonable accommodation. We first requested access to the full Mueller report and the underlying evidence on February 22. After refusing for almost 4 months, the Department of Justice, in the last few days, has finally agreed to permit us to view the special counsel's most important files. We are hopeful this will provide us with key evidence regarding allegations of obstruction of justice and other misconduct. Given this potential breakthrough, we will hold the criminal contempt process for Attorney General Barr in abeyance for now. But President Trump has blocked other key witnesses from testifying before the Judiciary Committee, including his former White House counsel Don McGahn, whose account of the President's actions was featured in the Mueller report. The President has claimed absolute immunity for critical witnesses to prevent them from even showing up. He has invoked executive privilege to prevent us from seeing documents that stopped being privileged long ago, if they were ever privileged to begin with. He has done the same in response to Congress' important work unrelated to the Mueller report, and he has ordered the agencies not to cooperate with even our most basic oversight requests. This unprecedented stonewalling by the administration is completely unacceptable. The committees have a constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight, to make recommendations to the House as necessary, and to craft legislation that will curb the abuse of power on full display in the Trump administration. This is why it is important that the Judiciary Committee be able to act in such matters using all of our Article I powers, as contemplated in this resolution and described in both the Rules Committee report and the House Judiciary Committee's contempt report. Now, I heard what the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Woodall) said a few minutes ago, and he is exactly right. This resolution gives committee chairs the power, with the approval of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, to go to court on behalf of the House to enforce our subpoenas. This has not been done before, but neither have we ever seen blanket stonewalling by the administration of all information requests by the House. We have never faced such blanket stonewalling. The President himself said--and they have been as good as their word--they will oppose all of our subpoenas. We must go to court to enforce the subpoenas without a separate floor vote each time if we are going to enforce our subpoenas and reject the arrogant assumption of power by the administration and denigration of the power of the House and of the Congress. We cannot afford to waste all the floor time every single time the administration rejects one of our subpoenas, which is every time we issue a subpoena. That is why we must pass this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution so that we can get into court and break the stonewall without delay.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes. Madam Speaker, H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, is vital legislation that provides a path to lawful permanent resident, or LPR, status for two groups of people who enrich our Nation and who are in dire need of protection, Dreamers, and long-term recipients of humanitarian relief, known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, and Deferred Enforcement Departure, or DED. Dreamers are undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children and have embraced this country as their own. They are our neighbors and coworkers; they are the classmates of our children; and they serve in our military with distinction. Many did not even know they were not born here and were not American citizens until they found they could not get drivers licenses or in-state tuition rates for college. That is why it was so devastating when the Trump administration announced that it was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA, which enabled approximately 800,000 Dreamers to work lawfully, attend school, and plan their lives without the constant threat of deportation. Although less is known or understood about long-time TPS and DED recipients, there is no doubt that they are equally deserving of our protection and support. Broadly speaking, TPS and DED provide humanitarian relief to individuals from countries facing dangerous conditions or experiencing upheaval, such as ongoing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. TPS and DED recipients have lived in the United States, on average, for decades, laying down deep roots in our communities. They also contribute to the U.S. economy by making up a significant portion of the workforce in key industries, including construction and food service, as well as through consumer spending and tax revenue. Unfortunately, like Dreamers, their futures now hang in the balance as a result of the Trump administration's anti-immigrant, enforcement- only approach to immigration policy. Since September 2017, the administration has announced the termination of TPS and DED for seven affected countries. Fortunately, the courts have issued multiple injunctions preventing efforts to terminate DACA and TPS from moving forward. But even if the courts ultimately rule against the administration, only a fraction of Dreamers and TPS recipients will benefit from a reprieve that is itself only temporary. That is why we must pass H.R. 6 today to provide Dreamers and TPS recipients the permanent protections they need and deserve. The American Dream and Promise Act is carefully crafted legislation that delivers needed protections, while creating rigorous eligibility standards, including specifically restricting eligibility to those individuals who pose no public safety or national security concerns. I want to congratulate my colleagues, Representatives Lucille Roybal- Allard, Nydia Velazquez, and you, Madam Speaker, Yvette Clarke, for introducing this important legislation. I would also like to thank the distinguished chair and vice chair of the Immigration Subcommittee, Representatives Zoe Lofgren and Pramila Jayapal. Their steadfast support for the Dreamer and TPS/DED populations, and their tireless efforts, have been essential in bringing this bill to the floor today. Dreamers and TPS and DED recipients contribute to our thriving economy, and they make America a stronger, more united, and more diverse nation. Failing to provide permanent protections for them at this critical juncture would be a travesty, not only for these individuals, but also for us as a country. I hope that all of my colleagues will stand up for these vital members of our society when it truly counts by supporting H.R. 6 today. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren), the distinguished chairperson of the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard), the chief sponsor of this bill.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 415, I call up the bill (H.R. 6) to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain aliens, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren), and I ask unanimous consent that she may control the time for the majority.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), a sponsor of the bill.

Mr. NADLER. Madam 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. 6.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch).

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

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin). (Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).