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As part of the House Judiciary Committee's bipartisan criminal justice reform initiative, the Committee today approved by voice vote a bill to reauthorize a federal grant program targeted at reducing crime among youth.
Mr. Chairman, I support H.R. 68, which would reauthorize and update the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant program. This program is an important part of the comprehensive effort to help states improve and operate their juvenile justice systems.
I commend my colleague, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime, for her work on this important bill and for her steadfast work to reform the ways our criminal justice and juvenile justice systems treat young offenders.
Thank you, Madam Attorney General, for being with us today.
The news of the past few days has been full of questions about violence, civil rights, and the safety of our police officers-and I want you to know that we take seriously the burden of each of these questions on your office.
It will not have escaped your attention that we are in the middle of election season. You may also know that there are just three working days left until we break for the summer-and, really, not much more time after that until the Congress ends.
TUESDAY, JULY 12
10:00 a.m. Full Committee
Hearing on: Oversight of the Department of Justice
Witness:
- The Honorable Loretta Lynch, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
2237 Rayburn House Office Building
3:00 p.m. Executive Overreach Task Force
Hearing on: Executive Overreach in Regulatory Enforcement and Infrastructure
Witnesses:
I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 4768, the "Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2016."
By eliminating judicial deference to agency determinations, the bill would make the already ossified rulemaking process even more time-consuming and costly, threatening the ability of federal regulatory agencies to protect public health and safety.
This is true for several reasons. Ironically, for a bill that purports to "restore" separation of powers, H.R. 4768 actually raises separation of power concerns.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) issued the following statement in anticipation of tomorrow's U.S. Department of Justice oversight hearing with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch:
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) joined members of the Congressional Black Caucus at a press conference today to denounce the slayings of police officers in Dallas, and the slayings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota. Below are Congressman Conyers' remarks as prepared for delivery:
H.R. 5578, the "Survivors' Bill of Rights Act of 2016," would provide needed protections and rights to victims of sexual assault.
I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this compassionate and thoughtful piece of legislation.
And, I want to congratulate my colleagues -- Representatives Zoe Lofgren and Mimi Waters – for their leadership on this bill, which will help ensure that victims obtain justice.
This legislation would provide victims of sexual assault the right to receive --
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs plays a central role in reviewing regulations issued by Executive Branch agencies as well as working to improve the process and quality of federal rulemakings.
It has been 3 years since Administrator Shelanksi was appointed to head OIRA. Accordingly, I would very much appreciate hearing his thoughts on the current state of affairs with respect federal rulemakings and whether any legislative fixes are needed.
Once again, in its 7th hearing to date, this Task Force is considering old wine in new bottles.
Unfortunately, today's hearing is just the latest in a decades-old line of attack by conservatives on America's longstanding commitments to aid the elderly and the poor.
As we consider the arguments made today, we should keep a few points in mind.
To begin with, efforts to curb "mandatory spending" and stopping the so-called "entitlement crisis" are really intended to slash programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.