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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Director Comey, for your appearance here today.
The FBI's mission is a complex undertaking: to protect the United States from terrorism, to enforce our criminal laws, and to lead the nation's law enforcement community.
That mission ought to mirror our own priorities in this Committee.
In the past few days, for example, we have witnessed near-fatal terrorist attacks in Minnesota, New York, and New Jersey.
I want to preface my remarks regarding today's hearing, which deals with community policing policies, by observing that our Nation's conscience continues to be rocked by a series of tragic events involving law enforcement and the loss of too many black lives.
In our court rooms, in our streets and on our televisions, we confront a never ending body count. Earlier this summer, my Congressional colleagues and I staged an unprecedented sit-in – just to try to get a vote on common sense gun legislation.
CBC Chairman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC), Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), and Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI) issued the following response to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) regarding the Republican spending bill:
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), leaders of the bipartisan Policing Strategies Working Group, today issued the following joint statement on the police-involved shootings in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Charlotte, North Carolina and subsequent protests:
In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court recognized a woman's constitutional right to make what is perhaps the most profoundly personal of healthcare decisions –when to start a family – free from undue government interference.
Unfortunately, since 1976, Congress has sought to undermine this important constitutional right by attaching the so-called "Hyde Amendment" to annual appropriations measures funding the Department of Health and Human Services.
I want to begin my remarks by thanking Director Sarah Saldaña for her service and appearing before our Committee today. As head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Director Saldaña has one of the toughest jobs in government. With limited resources, she must ensure that our immigration statutes are enforced as well as ensure that this is done in fair, just, and balanced way.
Sudden and sharp increases in the cost of life-saving prescription medications have caused much public outcry, most recently regarding the substantial spike in the price of EpiPen, which is used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions.
Although today's hearing focuses on competition in the markets for a particular set of life-saving drugs -- namely, those that treat opioid addiction -- I hope that there are some broader lessons that we can draw from our discussion today.
H.R. 3438, the "Require Evaluation before Implementing Executive Wishlists Act of 2016," would stay the enforcement of any rule imposing an annual cost to the economy in excess of $1 billion pending judicial review.
Notwithstanding the bill's colorful short title, H.R. 3438 would have a pernicious impact on rulemaking and the ability of agencies to respond to critical health and safety issues.
In essence, the bill would encourage anyone who wants to delay a significant rule from going into effect by simply seeking judicial review of the rule.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Commissioner Koskinen, for joining us today on short notice, under these unusual circumstances.
Last week, a handful of my colleagues attempted to force a vote on your impeachment. When it appeared that they would fall short of the necessary votes, that effort was abandoned-and this hearing was scheduled instead.