[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
MEMBER DAY
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023
__________
Serial No. 118-50
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Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
54-119 WASHINGTON : 2023
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Chair
DARRELL ISSA, California JERROLD NADLER, New York, Ranking
KEN BUCK, Colorado Member
MATT GAETZ, Florida ZOE LOFGREN, California
ANDY BIGGS, Arizona SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas
TOM McCLINTOCK, California STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky Georgia
CHIP ROY, Texas ADAM SCHIFF, California
DAN BISHOP, North Carolina ERIC SWALWELL, California
VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana TED LIEU, California
SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington
CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon J. LUIS CORREA, California
BEN CLINE, Virginia MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania
LANCE GOODEN, Texas JOE NEGUSE, Colorado
JEFF VAN DREW, New Jersey LUCY McBATH, Georgia
TROY NEHLS, Texas MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania
BARRY MOORE, Alabama VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
KEVIN KILEY, California DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
HARRIET HAGEMAN, Wyoming CORI BUSH, Missouri
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas GLENN IVEY, Maryland
LAUREL LEE, Florida BECCA BALINT, Vermont
WESLEY HUNT, Texas
RUSSELL FRY, South Carolina
Vacant
CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Majority Staff Director
AMY RUTKIN, Minority Staff Director & Chief of Staff
------
C O N T E N T S
----------
Friday, November 3, 2023
Page
OPENING STATEMENTS
The Honorable Jim Jordan, Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary
from the State of Ohio......................................... 1
The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Ranking Member of the Committee on
the Judiciary from the State of New York....................... 1
WITNESSES
The Hon. Ann Wagner, Member of Congress, Missouri
Oral Testimony................................................. 2
Prepared Testimony............................................. 4
The Hon. Greg Stanton, Member of Congress, Arizona
Oral Testimony................................................. 6
Prepared Testimony............................................. 8
The Hon. Glenn Grothman, Member of Congress, Wisconsin
Oral Testimony................................................. 11
The Hon. Mike Kelly, Member of Congress, Pennsylvania
Oral Testimony................................................. 12
The Hon. Young Kim, Member of Congress, California
Oral Testimony................................................. 14
Prepared Testimony............................................. 16
The Hon. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Member of Congress, Georgia
Oral Testimony................................................. 19
The Hon. Juan Ciscomani, Member of Congress, Arizona
Oral Testimony................................................. 20
Prepared Testimony............................................. 22
The Hon. Sylvia R. Garcia, Member of Congress, Texas
Oral Testimony................................................. 24
The Hon. Kathy E. Manning, Member of Congress, North Carolina
Oral Testimony................................................. 25
Prepared Testimony............................................. 28
The Hon. Dusty Johnson, Member of Congress, South Dakota
Oral Testimony................................................. 32
Prepared Testimony............................................. 34
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC. SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
All materials submitted for the record by the Committee on the
Judiciary are listed below..................................... 36
Materials submitted by the Honorable Marjorie Taylor Greene from
the State of Georgia, for the record
A graph entitled, ``Diagnoses of youths with gender dysphoria
surge,'' Komodo Health Inc.
An article entitled, ``Majority of Americans oppose gender-
affirming care for minors, trans women participating in
sports: poll,'' May 6, 2023, The Hill
An article entitled, ``Minnesota to join at least 4 other
states in protecting transgender care this year,'' Apr.
21, 2023, NPR
An article entitled, ``Putting numbers on the rise in
children seeking gender care,'' Oct. 6, 2022, Reuters
An article entitled, ``California passes bill punishing
parents who don't `affirm' trans kids in custody battles:
`Utter madness!,' '' Sept. 8, 2023, Fox News
An article entitled, ``Blue States Double Down on Child
Transition,'' Jun. 29, 2023, National Review
APPENDIX
Statement from the Honorable Jodey Arrington from the State of
Texas, for the record
Statement from the Honorable Larry Bucshon from the State of
Indiana, for the record
Statement from the Honorable Mike Carey from the State of Ohio,
for the record
Statement from the Honorable Randy Feenstra from the State of
Iowa, for the record
Statement from the Honorable Glenn William ``GT'' Thompson, Jr.,
from the State of Pennsylvania, for the record
Materials submitted by the Honorable Jeff Van Drew, of the
Committee on the Judiciary from the State of New Jersey, for
the record
Statement re the Ensuring Justice for Victims of Terrorism
ACT (EJVTA)
Statement re the Meaningful Access to Court Proceedings for
Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 Act
Statement from the Honorable Amata Coleman Radewagen from
American Samoa, for the record
Statement from the Honorable Greg Landsman from the State of
Ohio, for the record
Statement from the Honorable Mark Allan Takano from the State of
California, for the record
MEMBER DAY
----------
Friday, November 3, 2023
House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary
Washington, DC
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9 a.m., in Room
2141, Rayburn House Office Building, the Hon. Jim Jordan [Chair
of the Committee] presiding.
Members present: Representatives Jordan, Tiffany, Bishop,
Lee, Nadler, and Ivey.
Also present: Representatives Wagner, Stanton, Grothman,
Kelly, Kim, Greene, Ciscomani, Garcia, Manning, and Johnson of
South Dakota.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will come to order, and without
objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess at any
time. We welcome everyone to today's Member Day hearing.
The Chair would ask the gentleman from Arizona, Mr.
Stanton, if he would be willing to lead us in the Pledge of
Allegiance.
All. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States
of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one
Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
all.
Chair Jordan. The Member Day is an opportunity to hear from
our colleagues who have bills within the jurisdiction of our
Committee. The Judiciary Committee has a number of very
important topics in our jurisdiction: Constitution, civil
rights, civil liberties, immigration, crime, and the
functioning of our court system. These affect Americans' lives
every single day.
We have several of our colleagues here this morning
testifying before our Committee, and I look forward to hearing
what they have to say.
The Chair now recognizes the Ranking Member, Mr. Nadler,
for any opening statement that he may.
Mr. Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for calling today's
Member Day hearing. Today's hearing gives us the opportunity to
hear the views of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle
about their legislative interests and priorities on matters
within our jurisdiction.
The Judiciary Committee is responsible for a broad array of
issues, including the Federal judiciary, criminal justice,
administrative procedure, bankruptcy, civil rights and civil
liberties, constitutional amendments, immigration, intellectual
property, antitrust, and much more.
It is no secret that Democrats in this Committee
historically different priorities than the Republican majority,
whether it be protecting voting rights, enacting gun safety
legislation, expanding civil rights protections for LGBTQ
Americans and other margin-alized communities, and working
toward comprehensive reform of our broken immigration system,
among many other important priorities.
We also have areas of bipartisan interest, most notably
enacted needed reforms to the FISA program, and I look forward
to continuing this important work together. I am interested to
hear from our colleagues today about matters of interest to
them so that their views can inform the work of this Committee.
The House is fortunate to have a broad and diverse array of
views among its Members, and I know that this Committee's work
will be strengthened by hearing from our colleagues. Thank you
again, Mr. Chair, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Chair Jordan. Without objection, all the opening statements
will be included in the record. I would remind our colleagues
testifying today that your written statements will be included
in the record in their entirety, and we ask that you summarize
our testimony in five minutes.
Our first witness is the gentlelady, seeing that she is at
the table with her name right there, the gentlelady from the
State of Missouri, Ms. Wagner. You are recognized for five
minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. ANN WAGNER
Ms. Wagner. Hi and thank you Mr. Chair, and Ranking Member
Nadler, for holding this Member Day hearing.
One of my top priorities, and I believe is a top priority
for all of us here is to protect our children in our
communities from exploitation. Tragically, our government is
failing in this missing.
The sexual exploitation of children has skyrocketed across
the United States, and it is long past time for Congress to
take substantive action to combat this horrific crime.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, or
NCMEC, is the Congressionally mandated nonprofit organization
that operates the cyber tip line, where online platforms are
legally required to report child sexual abuse material found on
their websites. Child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, is
commonly known as child pornography.
These are illegal, and let me underscore illegal, images
and videos of children, more often than not prepubescent
children, being raped and sexually abused. In 2019, these are
important statistics, the NCMEC cyber tip line received 17
million reports of online CSAM.
Last year, cyber tip line received over 32 million reports.
That is an 89 percent increase in just three years, Mr. Chair,
equal to approximately 87,600 reports of child rape videos per
day. That is absolutely unconscionable.
Making this problem even worse is the fact that under
current law, there are no requirements regarding what must be
included in these cyber tip line reports. Because of this legal
gap, online platforms do not consistently include substantive
and actionable information in their reports. This often leaves
NCMEC and law enforcement unable to locate and rescue the
children depicted in the images and videos.
In 2022, over 50 percent of the 32 million reports
submitted to NCMEC could not be investigated by law enforcement
because they included too little information. That is 16
million reports of child sexual abuse rendered completely
useless. Congress must fix this, and they can.
My bill, H.R. 5182, the Child Online Safety Modernization
Act, or COSMA, directly addresses this issue. COSMA would
modernize and enhance the NCMEC cyber tip line by requiring
reports from online platforms to include information that
actually helps law enforcement identify and locate the children
depicted in CSAM, as well as the individuals involved in
posting this illegal, again, illegal imagery.
This includes very basic information, we have spoken about
this, Mr. Chair, about the reports, so I want to be specific.
Basic information, such as an email address, IP address, or
just a URL where the CSAM was posted. Additionally, the bill
would extend the legally required preservation of these reports
from 90 days to one year.
With over 32 million reports just last year, law
enforcement needs this additional time to properly and
comprehensively investigate these cases.
Last, this bill replaces the term ``child pornography''
with ``child sexual abuse material'' throughout all of U.S.
Code. Child pornography is an inaccurate and misleading term to
describe an image of video of children being raped and sexually
abused.
The children in these videos have no consent and no control
over their exploitation, and our Federal laws should accurately
reflect this abuse. Thus, the change to CSAM versus child porn.
This legislation has been endorsed, I want all of you to
know, by a broad coalition of organizations, including the
National Fraternal Order of Police, the National District
Attorneys Association, the National Children's Alliance, the
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the National Center on
Sexual Exploitation, Raven, and many more.
I am also proud to have the support of multiple Members of
this Committee on both sides of the aisle. We have a real
opportunity to make fundamental progress in this fight, and I
ask that this Committee favorably report out H.R. 5182 as soon
as possible so we can give law enforcement the tools it needs
to rescue children across the United States.
I thank all of you for your time this morning, and Mr.
Chair, I yield back.
[The prepared statement of the Hon. Ann Wagner follows:]
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Chair Jordan. I thank the gentlelady for her testimony and
for her important work in this area to protect kids. Thank you
very much.
Our next witness is the--I think we will go Democrat and
then we will come right back. So, our next witness will be the
gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Stanton.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. GREG STANTON
Mr. Stanton. Chair Jordan, Ranking Member Nadler, Members
of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify
today about issues in your jurisdiction that are of great
importance to my home State of Arizona. I was fortunate to
serve on this Committee in my first two terms in Congress. Boy,
do I miss those 4 a.m. markups in this Committee.
One of my top priorities then, as it is now, is reforming
our broken immigration system. Congress has an urgent duty to
ensure an orderly, humane, and secure Southern border and to
protect Americans from illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs
that come through our ports of entry.
There are bipartisan, commonsense solutions we can employ.
We need to deliver more resources to local governments and
communities, including replenishing the depleted shelter and
services program. We need increased funding to recruit and
retain qualified personnel and improve technology and
infrastructure at ports of entry along the Southern border.
At the same time America is facing a border crisis, we are
also facing a workforce crisis. To stay economically
competitive, it is time to create new legal pathways and
additional visa categories to support industries facing
historic labor shortages and increase the number of available
visas in critical industries like the H1Bs.
I also support expanding refugee pathways and in-country
processing so that migrants are not forced to make the
dangerous journey to the United States border.
Finally, we have an urgent obligation to provide safety and
security to our Dreamers by passing the American Dream and
Promise Act. They have been left in legal limbo for far too
long. I stand ready to work with this Committee to finally
advance bipartisan, commonsense border and immigration policy.
Another one of my top priorities before this Committee is
to finally bring justice to America's downwinders. My bill,
H.R. 4754, The Downwinders Parity Act, would extend the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to communities in Northern
Arizona and Southern Nevada who were exposed to cancer-causing
radiation from atomic weapons testing.
I was proud that in 2021, at my urging, Congressman Nadler
led this Committee to hold the first hearing on downwinders in
two decades. It was an important first step, but it is long
past time for the Federal Government to take responsibility for
its actions.
I have introduced another bill that falls under this
Committee's jurisdiction, H.R. 3269, the Law Enforcement
Innovate to De-Escalate Act, to make a technical fix needed to
allow law enforcement to procure and use more effective and
efficient less-than-lethal devices. Minimizing gun deaths in
interactions between police officers and civilians is truly a
bipartisan objective.
Unfortunately, the development of less-than-lethal weapons
has been stymied by antiquated definitions in a more than 50-
year-old law, the Gun Control Act of 1968. This means less-
than-lethal weapons could be misclassified as a deadly force,
which may prohibit law enforcement agencies from adopting more
innovative less-than-lethal tools to help make encounters safer
for officers and community members alike.
I hope I can count on the support of this Committee to
develop a 21st century policy that makes all our communities
safer.
We also need to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act. We owe an
enormous debt of gratitude to the Afghan people for the ways
they supported U.S. forces for almost 20 years, often at great
personal risk.
In the weeks before Kabul fell, my team and I worked to
help a few of these allies, women who served in the Afghan
national army's female tactical platoon. Their work to support
our mission and their gender makes them and their families a
top target for the Taliban. Yet, after 2\1/2\ years, many of
these brave women still await asylum.
This Committee should quickly take up the Afghan Adjustment
Act to give these FTPs and other allies' certainty and
stability.
To close, I want to highlight a particularly painful issue
facing my State of Arizona: Missing and murdered indigenous
people. It is a national shame that such violence has
perpetuated against Native American communities.
In 2020, Congress passed the Savanna's Act and the Not
Invisible Act, instructing the Administrative Branch to take
desperately needed actions to improve coordination and
communication about missing and murdered indigenous people.
I urge this Committee to conduct oversight over the
administration and the previous one's implementation of these
landmark laws and consider what more needs to be done to end
this silent crisis.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for this important opportunity to
address the community.
[The prepared statement of the Hon. Greg Stanton follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you. Mr. Stanton, you are definitely
efficient. Four bills and an oversight request, we appreciate
that. Your less-than-lethal legislation is something that we
are seriously looking at. It makes sense, so we appreciate
that. Thank you.
Next is the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Grothman.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. GLENN GROTHMAN
Mr. Grothman. Oh, thank you. We just have one bill for you
today. As you know, I am a Member of the Oversight Committee,
and on there we deal with migrant issues. This will wind up
coming under the purview of the Judiciary Committee.
I am urging the Committee to take up H.R. 4869, the Migrant
Child Safety Act. The United States is currently in the midst
of the worst crisis of unaccompanied alien children in our
Nation's history. As I am sure you know, Mr. Chair, about every
month, eight or nine thousand unaccompanied minors are coming
into this country.
In 2022, there were a total of 152,000 unaccompanied alien
children encountered, the most ever in a single year. We are
going at about a rate of five times coming in now, with coming
in under the Trump Administration.
The Migrant Child Safety Act would implement a number of
changes. We had hearings in which I was kind of shocked at what
the Office of Refugee Resettlement was doing and not doing. In
any event, we want them to now get background check
requirements for the sponsors, which they have suspended;
reporting requirements for children who go missing; and
information-sharing with State and local agencies.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement is required by law to
promptly place unaccompanied alien children referred to its
custody by the Department of Homeland Security with sponsors
deemed capable of providing the child's physical and mental
well-being. However, reports indicate that the Office of
Refugee Resettlement has prioritized expedient release of
unaccompanied children, to the detriment of their safety.
Obviously, it would be easier to handle the whole thing if
they weren't letting so many people in here. The Department of
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra personally
pushed for faster processing and discharging of unaccompanied
minors to the detriment of the children's safety on multiple
occasions, pressuring the staff at ORR to treat unaccompanied
minors--or unaccompanied processing like a factory. He was
quoted as saying,
If Henry Ford had seen this in his factories, in his plants, he
would never have become famous and rich. This is not the way
you do an assembly line.
You could imagine if they would treat native-born Americans
here, they would never get away with it. These reports also
cite evidence that as many as \2/3\ of the unaccompanied
children have been exploited by sponsors and forced to work
illegal full-time jobs in hazardous conditions to pay off
smuggling debts to cartels.
Caseworkers within the ORR claim that HHS regularly ignored
obvious signs of labor exploitation, such as single sponsors
sponsoring multiple children, hotspots in the country where the
vast majority of unaccompanied children's sponsors are not the
child's parents, UACs with significant debts, and direct
reports of trafficking.
In total, reports show that ORR has lost more than 85,000
migrant children in the past two years alone. I know that the
Biden Administration would claim it is a lower number than
that, but I think everybody would agree it is in the tens of
thousands.
It is clear that Congress--can you imagine tens of
thousands of missing children? It is clear that Congress needs
to step in under the leadership of the House Republicans. Under
our leadership, we have made some progress. H.R. 2 included
language strengthening the information-collecting at ORR, but
the language doesn't go far enough.
To see real change, we must implement the policies within
the Migrant Child Safety Act. This legislation has the
following provisions.
First, we have to ensure proper information collection from
potential sponsors, including the name, date of birth, Social
Security number, birthplace, proof of address, and results of
background checks, immigration status, and contact information.
Second, we have to require potential sponsors to provide
their familial relationship to the UAC through documentation,
witness testimony, or DNA testing.
Third, implement a reporting requirement to the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children if ORR is unable to
contact the sponsor for followup or well-being check within 120
days of placement, then require that ORR notify appropriate
State and local health or welfare agencies within 30 days of
placing a UAC with a sponsor in their jurisdiction.
Finally, direct ORR to attempt to contact a unaccompanied
minor's parents before placing with a sponsor. Isn't that the
first thing you would look for if you found a child, where are
the child's parents? They don't care.
Same thing, by the way, with the Department of Labor. They
don't care. They find a child working at two o'clock in the
morning, why look for the parents.
Before I end, I would like to thank Congressman Gooden for
co-leading this legislation with me. I look forward to working
with you guys on the issue, and it would be great to get it out
of this Committee. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. Thank the gentleman for his work on this
issue, and we thank you for your testimony today.
Mr. Grothman. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from
Pennsylvania, Mr. Kelly.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. MIKE KELLY
Mr. Kelly. Thank you, Chair Jordan and Ranking Member
Nadler.
The Northern border security issue that we are talking
about is an immigration issue, and that is why we are here
today. Now, I have had the pleasure of meeting with agents of
the CBP Buffalo Sector Erie Station for the last decade, and we
all know what is going on at the Southern border. All the
attention has been down there, it hasn't been on our Northern
border.
When you take a look at the pressure on our CBP, that
Northern border area, 5,500 miles, 5,525 miles, it is the
longest continuous border in the world, is almost completely
unguarded. There is one stretch, I think, of almost 500 miles
where there is one agent patrolling that area--one.
So, when people say to me, so what is it that you are
looking for, and here is what we are looking for. Look, can you
imagine going to work every day and knowing that no matter how
hard you work, no matter how long you work, you have no--
absolutely no control over the situation?
We are outnumbered at the Northern border. The numbers are
off the charts of what is going on right now.
So, Chair Jordan, this thing has gotten so out of control,
the Northern border people, the Border Control people, are
doing all the digital intake. So, they go to work every day,
but they are not on the border. They are doing intake for
things that are happening on our Southern border.
Now, while the Biden Administration refuses to believe that
there is a problem anywhere in this country, because my gosh,
how could there be, well, the answer to that is please, go down
and see what is going on. Once you go down and you see the
Southern border, then how about going up to the Northern border
and look where it is completely unguarded.
You look at that border across there and you get to the
Swanton area, which is up in New England, the amount of
fentanyl that is coming in through that area is incredible. For
this administration to sit back and deny that there is any
problem going on there.
Now, you can put your hands over your eyes, you can put
your fingers in your ears, and you can deny that there is not a
problem. There is a huge problem.
The most surprising thing about all this, Mr. Chair, when
are you going to any help from the other side that are going to
say we actually have a problem here? Hello, Houston, we have a
problem. We sit here day after day after day after day of
watching our fellow citizens being attacked all over the place.
I am really concerned about the Northern border because
that is the area that I represent, at least in Erie. So,
Representative Zinke and I got together, because when I talk to
him, he talks about things that are going on up in his area.
So, imagine the Northern border. The Southern border, you
got to come across a river. Northern border, you just got to
take one step. There are no lines drawn, there is no fence,
there is nothing. Completely unguarded, completely unguarded.
The irresponsibility of the Biden Administration right now
to sit back and continue to refuse to even acknowledge the fact
that we have a problem, not only at our Southwestern border,
but also at our Northern border. I would absolutely--Mr. Chair,
you know this because you have worked so hard on it.
Wouldn't it be nice to get people from the other side to
actually say we do have a problem, and it is more important
than a Republican problem and a Democrat problem. This is an
American problem. People can sit back and refuse that it is
there, but they can't go to either one of those borders and see
what is really going on and talk to those folks to see what is
happening.
I know people get upset because you have a passion for
these things. Everybody likes to play nicely, and say OK, fine,
let's get along. Well, I will tell you what, you want to get
along, let's do what we are supposed to do. We took an oath of
office. Why don't we come here just to protect all Americans,
not just ones on the Southwestern border, how about those ones
on the Northern border?
So, I just ask you, Mr. Chair, because you are a great
supporter of this, and I would ask our colleagues if you have
not been to the border, please take some time and go down
there. Don't listen to the publicity stuff on the other side
that says no, there is no problem. So, today, because this is
really an immigration problem, and that is why I am here in
front of you, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you
taking time to hear from me and my colleagues.
We do have a bill out there, and it is about the Northern
security caucus. We need more people to get on board with it.
We need people to pay more attention to it.
So, I think the real purpose of coming here today was that
you would take time to listen to us. You would take time to
fight for this. We would all take this time to say we are
never, ever going to give up on this and protecting the
American people.
So, Mr. Chair, I want to thank you so much for giving us
time to come before you today, and help support us on this. We
are going to get that is even more inclusive, OK?
Chair Jordan. Thank you.
Mr. Kelly. Thank you, Chair.
Chair Jordan. I would just say thank you. I do believe it
is starting. You heard from Mr. Stanton a little bit earlier,
he is talking about what is going on there. He is on the other
side of the aisle. The Mayor of New York and other Democrats
are understanding how serious this problem is.
So, we appreciate your intensity and focus on not just the
Southern border issue, but what is happening on our Northern
border as well. Thank you.
Mr. Kelly. We both know seeing is believing. Please, let's
open our eyes, let's go down and look at it. Thank you. Thanks,
Chair.
Chair Jordan. Sure. I thank the gentleman from
Pennsylvania. The Chair now recognizes the gentlelady from
California, Ms. Kim.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. YOUNG KIM
Ms. Kim. Thank you, Chair Jordan and Ranking Member Nadler.
I want to thank you for holding today's Member Day hearing and
allowing me to come and talk about some of my legislative
priorities.
I represent California's 40th Congressional District, which
has been plagued by retail crimes. We see businesses victimized
by large-scale thefts it seems like every week. These thefts
are often part of a broader scam to steal goods, front them
online or overseas, and launder money for criminal
organizations.
This scam is known as organized retail crime and is
responsible for roughly $95 billion in losses for retailers
every year.
The California Highway Patrol has set up a task force to
better respond to organized retail crime and to work more
closely with local jurisdictions to crack down on organized
retail crime. Guidance and assistance from the Federal
Government is limited.
These crimes are normally prosecuted on the local and State
level, where Federal law enforcement is often occupied with
more serious and violent crimes.
While I understand that Federal law enforcement is not the
most equipped to respond to retail theft cases, I do believe
that the Federal Government can play a role in supporting State
and local law enforcement, especially in cases of organized
retail crimes, where stolen goods or laundered money crosses
intrastate or interState lines.
Investigations of organized retail crime can be
complicated, given the number of agencies that could be
involved in investigating different elements of the crime.
There is no agency that has the exclusive jurisdiction over
these cases when the crime crosses State lines.
Since organized retail crime crosses different
jurisdictions, Federal enforcement agencies should be able to
strategize on how to best support State and local enforcement
in combating these crimes.
There is a bill that I introduced, H.R. 316, Improving
Federal Investigations of Organized Retail Crime Act. This bill
directs the Department of State, the Department of Homeland
Security, and the United States Postal Service and other
relevant agencies to create a cohesive strategy and the report
to Congress on how the Federal Government can improve
coordination and information-sharing among Federal law
enforcement agencies and increase collaboration with retailers,
organized retail crime associations, and State-run retail crime
task force, and assist State and local authorities in compiling
evidence for the prosecution of organized retail crime.
While this is a small step in the right direction, we
should note that there are a number of other issues that would
need to be addressed as we seek to tackle organized retail
crime. I know a number of my colleagues are working on this
issue, and I thank them. I stand ready to work with them and
the Judiciary Committee to move legislation on this issue that
is deeply important to my district.
I would also ask the Committee to keep in mind that
California suffers from rogue prosecutors who refuse to enforce
the laws on the books and immediately release criminals back on
the streets after they are booked for misdemeanor and even
felony thefts. So, I also stand ready to work with you on this
issue.
Again, thank you, Chair Jordan, Ranking Member Nadler, for
allowing me to testify about my priorities, and I yield the
balance of my time.
[The prepared statement of the Hon. Young Kim follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you. We appreciate you testifying today
and bringing this to our attention. Thank you so much.
The Chair now recognizes the gentlelady from Georgia. Ms.
Greene, you are recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE
Ms. Greene. Thank you. Thank you for allowing me to come
before the Committee today. I have an important bill I would
like to talk to you about.
My bill is the Protect Children's Innocence Act. This is my
signature bill, and it has been a model used across the country
by many States as they are working on passing or have already
passed bills and made into law in their States protecting
children from a radical ideology that is spreading across
America, and that is gender dysphoria.
It is hard to imagine that today in America there are
doctors and there are many medical professionals prescribing
puberty blockers, providing hormone therapy, and surgeries
actually cutting off children's body parts before they are ever
old enough to vote, graduate from high school, buy nicotine,
buy alcohol, and join the military.
This is not a political party issue. This is widely
supported across America, across all party lines that people
want this to stop. Children need to be allowed to grow up
before they make tragic mistakes that will forever change their
bodies for the rest of their lives.
There are no known studies on what puberty blockers do
long-term to children that take them and what happens to them
later on as adults. There is also a growing movement all across
America called detransition.
These are many young people that made the tragic mistakes
of having mastectomies, having castrations done to them, having
genital mutilation surgeries when they were still in their
early teens, maybe even before they were teenagers. As they
grew up, they realized they made tragic mistakes to their body,
and they are trying so hard to warn many others don't go down
this road.
Here is what is most disturbing. Gender dysphoria is not a
virus. This is not a disease that is spreading. It is an
ideology, and it is spreading across social media, and it is
rapidly growing.
In 2017, there were 15,000 cases. Now, in 2021, and we
don't have the numbers for 2022-2023, but by 2021, it was over
42,000 cases. This is a new diagnosis in ages 6-17.
Now, here is what is disturbing for any of my friends that
think this is a federalism issue. It is not. Because in the
United States today, we have over 12 States that are either
passing bills or have signed into laws that will take the
rights away from parents to protect their children. This is
what makes it a Federal issue.
We only have 19 States that are in the process of banning
or restricting minors' access to gender-affirming care. Those
have been implemented in those States, but if you look at over
12 States, and it is growing, where they are passing laws to
take away the rights of parents, and even take children away
from their parents.
We have to step in and make it a felony to perform gender-
affirming care. I have example after example I would like to
introduce into the record of news stories where this is
happening at large scale. Talking about custody battles and
judges determining whether parents are affirming their
children's care.
This is such a serious issue, and it is such a radical
ideology. It is growing at a rate that we cannot control, but
it needs to be stopped right now. Our job, our greatest job
that we have as adults, our greatest job that we have as
lawmakers is to protect children. It is to protect children at
all times, and we cannot allow this to continue.
If we allow this to continue, hiding behind the idea of
federalism, we are wrong, and I will tell you why. Our Founding
Fathers, our Founding Fathers would never say it is up to a
State to take away, for their government to be able to take
children away from parents. We can't allow this to continue.
So, Mr. Chair, I yield back my time and will take any
questions.
Chair Jordan. I thank the gentlelady. Without objection,
the gentlelady's articles will be entered into the record. We
thank you for your testimony and your passion for protecting
kids.
We will next go to, I think we will go to Mr. Ciscomani,
and then Ms. Garcia. The gentleman from Arizona is recognized
for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. JUAN CISCOMANI
Mr. Ciscomani. Thank you, Chair Jordan and Members of the
Judiciary Committee for allowing me to come before you today
and testify.
I come before the Committee today to discuss my bill H.R.
5585, the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act. I introduced
this bill last month after consistently hearing from my
constituents and local leaders about the detrimental impact
that high-speed chases have in Southern Arizona, specifically
in Cochise County, which is in my district.
The bill is simple. It makes it a Federal law to evade law
enforcement within 100 miles of the border. To me, it is simply
common sense that this should be a Federal crime.
If you are engaging in a high-speed chase and evading CBP
or local law enforcement, you are clearly not a good actor.
Unfortunately, the current laws do not make this crime in and
itself, and it leaves the burden of prosecuting and charging
these individuals to our local communities.
This bill is named in honor of Border Patrol Agent Raul
Gonzalez, who tragically lost his life in a high-speed chase
last year while pursuing a group of illegal immigrants in
Texas. Sadly, he is not the only person who has lost his life
as a result of these bad actors' actions.
In my community we have seen bicyclists injured, countless
hospitalizations, and tragically, a 65-year-old named Wanda,
who was struck and killed by 16-year-old smuggler while driving
to her own birthday party.
Drug cartels recruit individuals from across the country to
drive down to the border, pick up migrants, and transport them
North. The bottom line is that we need to change the calculus
for those who endanger all of us when failing to yield to law
enforcement.
By making these actions federally punishable, we are
sending a strong message to these bad actors that this type of
reckless endangerment is not tolerated. At a time when it is
arguably the easiest to cross our Southwest border and be
granted entry by this administration, we all should be asking
ourselves why these people are fleeing law enforcement. The
answer is these are really bad actors who the cartels want to
evade arrest.
In August, I was proud to welcome Members of the Oversight
and Judiciary Committees for a border tour and hearing at
Cochise College in Sierra Vista. There, Cochise County Sheriff
Mark Daniels testified before us that in the first five months
of 2023, there were 121 failures to yield just in Cochise
County.
He added in Southeastern Arizona and cartel groups have
dramatically increased in size and become more reckless,
aggressive, and violent, bringing unrest and fear to the
citizens living on the border.
I am proud to have the support of ten of our Republican
colleagues. Additionally, my bill is supported by many local
communities and supported at the Federal level by the National
Borden Patrol Council, the Western States Sheriffs'
Association, and the National Sheriffs' Association.
These law enforcement groups and local communities are
forced to deal with this problem daily, and Congress must
prioritize supporting our law enforcement officials by moving
on this legislation. I have said repeatedly that border
security is a Federal problem that we need to fix, and it
should not be put on the burden of our local communities.
Thank you again for allowing me to come before you today. I
hope you can all join me in supporting this much-needed
legislation. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of the Hon. Juan Ciscomani
follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. I thank the gentleman for his testimony and
for the comments and this legislation he is bringing forward. I
appreciate you being with us.
We will now go to Ms. Garcia. The gentlelady from Texas is
recognized.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. SYLVIA R. GARCIA
Ms. Garcia. Thank you Mr. Chair, and thank you to the
Ranking Member. It feels kind of good to be back, as a visitor
this time.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for hosting this Member Day. I think
it is a critical part of the legislative process, so it is good
to be back and be able to share with you my thoughts on one of
my priorities.
Our role as lawmakers is a special one. We are empowered by
the Constitution to make laws which are necessary and proper,
to serve the Nation as it changes in whatever form that may be.
When issues arise across the country, we find creative
commonsense ways to fix them.
Today, that country we live in is also home to millions of
Dreamers, people who were brought here to the United States as
children and who grew up here. In their heart, their soul, and
their mind, they are Americans, except on paper.
They know only America as their home. They contribute to
society as taxpayers, small business owners, scholars,
educators, and aspiring public servants. During the COVID
pandemic, they stepped up as essential workers. They served as
doctors, nurses, and first responders to keep our communities
healthy and safe.
Yet, they remain at risk of losing everything after living
in this country their whole life and knowing no other country.
They are in legal limbo. No family should be separated.
By finding common ground and working together to fix our
immigration system, Congress can provide a pathway for
citizenship for Dreamers and immigrant families.
Mr. Chair, this is not a partisan issue. Seventy-two
percent of Americans favor a law providing permanent legal
status for Dreamers--72 percent. Sixty-six percent support the
same for those under temporary protected status, or TPS. This
is necessary and proper. America believes in Dreamers, and
Dreamers believe in America.
I am proud to champion H.R. 16, the bipartisan--
bipartisan--American Dream and Promise Act of 2023. With the
support of a diverse, bipartisan group of co-leads, including
Representative Chavez-DeRemer, Duarte, Salazar, and
Commissioner Gonzalez-Colon.
Compared with similar bills, this bill stands out because
it is narrow with its focus and very narrow with its language.
It focuses solely on finalizing the simple, legal, and safe
pathway to citizenship for those cast in legal limbo by
Congress's inaction. Time after time, the Federal courts have
said, ``Congress must act,'' and we must.
This is a pragmatic solution which will have a life-
changing effect on every district in this Nation. This bill is
designed for law-abiding people. It includes broad criminal
bars and requirements for extensive background checks and
biometric registration.
Take it from me. I was born and raised in South Texas. I
know a lot about the border. I recognize the importance of
securing our borders to protect the integrity of our Nation.
Passing the American Dream and Promise Act will alleviate
the strain on our immigration enforcement agencies, allowing
them to focus their resources on addressing legitimate security
concerns and keeping our country safe, while also acknowledging
a responsibility to treat individuals seeking refuge with
dignity and respect.
Congress serves as their only hope for relief, so it is
necessary and proper to find a permanent solution so they can
focus on raising the next generation of doctors, teachers, and
leaders in our country. This bill passed the House in March
2021 in the last Congress, as well as in June 2019 in the 116th
Congress. We have changed not one word.
The only difference is that this time, for the first time,
it is a bipartisan effort. With your help, I will look forward
to getting this bill pasted, the House again--third one says
charm--and signed into law in Congress.
Thank you for your consideration.
Chair Jordan. Thank you for your testimony, Ms. Garcia, we
appreciate it.
The gentlelady from North Carolina, Ms. Manning, is now
recognized. I think you may--hit that button maybe. Is it on?
Ms. Manning. Start again.
Chair Jordan. There you go.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. KATHY E. MANNING
Ms. Manning. Chair Jordan, Ranking Member Nadler, Members
of the Committee, I appreciate this opportunity to testify
before you. I would be grateful to work together with all the
Members on this Committee and on both sides of the aisle to
help strengthen the fight against antisemitism and all forms of
hate.
I am here today as a proud Co-Chair of the House bipartisan
task force for combating antisemitism, together with
Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey and six other
colleagues on both sides of the aisle, including Representative
Ted Lieu, a Member of this Committee.
As you know, in recent years, but especially since October
7th, we have witnessed an unprecedented increase in antisemitic
incidents and threats targeting Jews in synagogues, on college
campuses, and all around the country.
The Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland
Security, and the Director of the FBI have all reported an
increase in threats against Jewish communities in the United
States, and the Anti-Defamation League has recorded an
astonishing 388 percent increase in antisemitic incidents since
Hamas' brutal attack on Israel.
United States has a longstanding, bipartisan commitment to
fight against antisemitism, and I am here to urge the Committee
to take concrete steps to counter this rise in antisemitism by
improving hate crimes reporting, strengthening DOJ's civil
rights protections, and implementing key provisions of the U.S.
national strategy to counter antisemitism.
First, to prevent terrible antisemitic hate crimes against
Americans, we must begin by getting accurate, nationwide data
on the threat. As you know, since Congress passed the Hate
Crimes Statistics Act in 1990, the FBI has collected and
reported annual statistics on all hate crimes, including those
motivated by religious bias.
Last month, the FBI released its 2022 hate crime statistic,
and this data showed a troubling reality that anti-Jewish hate
crime incidents increased at least 25 percent from 2021-2022,
the highest record number in decades. As concerning as that
data is, we know it remains incomplete.
That is because first, law enforcement participation
remains voluntary, rather than mandatory. Second, because many
agencies are struggling to transition from the old crime data
system to the new National Incident-Based Reporting System,
known as NIBRS.
I am glad that Congress has passed the NO HATE Act to
provide grants to help incentivize law enforcement agencies to
improve and transition hate crimes reporting. However, I
believe this Committee can do much more to eliminate gaps that
remain by requiring all law enforcement agencies to report hate
crimes data to the FBI.
Second, I believe Congress can and do more to help support
the FBI's investigation and the DOJ's prosecution of
antisemitic and other hate crimes.
In addition to the rise in threats to the Jewish community,
we recently witnessed a horrific incident in Illinois in which
a Muslim-American family was attacked by their landlord, who
stabbed a six-year-old boy to death, which the FBI's Chicago
Field Office is currently investigating as a potential hate
crime.
The Bureau is also currently investigating a sickening
series of threats posted over the weekend targeting the Jewish
students at Cornell University. This Monday, the DOJ announced
it had charged a man who threatened to kill our colleague,
Senator Jackie Rosen of Nevada, one of the strongest leaders in
the fight to combat antisemitism.
We must do more to deter and prosecute hate crimes. That is
why last week the House and Senate bipartisan task forces for
combating antisemitism led a letter from 64 Members of Congress
to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro
Mayorkas, and FBI Director Chris Wray urging them to provide
immediate resources to help protect the safety and security of
Jewish Americans, Jewish religious and educational
institutions, and organizations that are vulnerable to
increased threats and violence.
Finally, I encourage the Committee to help implement key
aspects of the U.S. national strategy to counter antisemitism.
Last year, my colleagues and I led more than 125 Members of
Congress in a bipartisan, bicameral effort to call for such a
national strategy, and we have played a leading role in its
development.
This strategy, which the White House released in May, is
the first comprehensive, whole-of-society effort to fight
antisemitism. Given the recent spike in antisemitism, it is
critical that we swiftly implement, authorize, and codify key
aspects of the strategy, especially so that Congress can hold
every agency accountable for the commitments they have made.
So, we are working on bipartisan legislation to do just
that. I look forward to working with the Members of this
Committee on that legislation.
I would like to give a special thanks to my colleague,
Representative Ivey, for standing up to protesters right before
this hearing and informing of those facts, that Hamas is a
terrorist group that has massacred innocent Israelis, and is
currently holding 240 civilians hostage and is dedicated to
killing Jews and destroying the State of Israel. We all need to
stand up to the misinformation and the spreading of
antisemitism.
Mr. Chair and Ranking Member, thank you for your work on
this Committee and in Congress to help fight the scourge of
antisemitism. I am grateful for your time today. I look forward
to working together with you and Members of both parties to
protect the Jewish community and counter antisemitism and hate.
[The prepared statement of the Hon. Kathy E. Manning
follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you, thank you, that was well done.
Mr. Ivey. Mr. Chair, just for a moment. Representative
Manning, thank you so much. I appreciate that very much.
Ms. Manning. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. Well, we appreciate the action you took, Mr.
Ivey. That is great, and this almost 400 percent increase in
the last month is just scary. So, thank you for that.
The Ranking Member and I were talking just yesterday about
some ideas that we think we can be helpful in this area, so we
will continue to have that discussion and see if we can do
something.
Ms. Manning. Thank you, I would be pleased to work with you
on that.
Chair Jordan. You bet. Thank you.
Ms. Manning. Thank you so much.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman from South Dakota is now
recognized.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. DUSTY JOHNSON
Mr. Johnson of South Dakota. Thank you, Mr. Chair, Mr.
Ranking Member. I have got four pieces of legislation I would
like to talk to you about today.
The first three deal with firearms.
First, right now, military spouses are not considered
residents to be able to purchase firearms or to transfer them
across State lines. I think that is a really unacceptable
barrier for our military spouses, who clearly don't have the
time to establish residency requirements before being
considered residents.
So, the Traveler's Gun Rights Act would just make it clear
that military spouses have a special opportunity to establish
legal residency earlier.
We also have a situation where people travel around the
country in RVs are today not allowed to use a post office box
for an address for them to be able to access their Second
Amendment rights. This bill would also address that.
Second, I would like to talk about the Tribal Firearm
Access Act. Kind of amazingly, you can use a foreign
government's passport as photo identification to purchase a
firearm, but you can't use a Tribal ID.
These are government-issued IDs. Yes, you can use them for
all kinds of things across, most States you can use them to
vote. You can't use that Tribal ID to secure a firearm.
This doesn't in any way cut any of the other limitations on
firearm ownership. It doesn't short-circuit anyway the checks
and balances in the system. It just says that can be your
government ID for the purposes of securing a firearm. I commend
the act to you.
Third, the piece of firearms legislation is the Tribal
Policy Department Parity Act. Right now, we have a number of
Federal firearms restrictions that don't apply to State, local,
and Federal law enforcement agencies. Of course, they would
have a different set of tools at their disposal than others.
Those extra opportunities don't exist for Tribal law
enforcement agencies, at least not in all cases. Kind of
depends on how they are structured.
I think that is unfortunate. I think we want to make--and
also, by the way, when they purchase firearms, they are subject
to additional Federal taxes, those firearm stands, that other
law enforcement agencies are not hit with. We want to make sure
that parity is put in place.
All these bills have their good coalitions, good sponsors.
Many of them we are also working with are folks in the Senate.
Senator Markwayne Mullin has been very helpful on at least two
of these three bills. Again, I commend them to you.
Fourth, the bill I want to talk about deals with the
Supreme Court. Last year we had a number of folks, including a
number on this side of this Committee, who proposed expanding
the Supreme Court by an additional four justices. Some of us,
me included, would call that packing the court.
It does not in any way increase American confidence in the
judiciary. There isn't any sort of a study that says oh, if you
were going to put together the perfect Supreme Court, one that
would best function operationally, that special number is
three. Quite to the contrary.
You have every Supreme Court justice of which I am aware
who has opined publicly on this has said nine allows for a
proper functioning of the court. No less that Ruth Bader
Ginsburg before her death, Stephen Breyer have talked about
nine being an effective number, and they have counseled against
packing the court.
So, my bill would just simply submit for Constitutional
Amendment that--and it is very simple. Sometimes we deal with
thousand-page bills in this body and it is hard to ascertain
what do they really do. This would instead just say the number
of justices on the Supreme Court shall be nine.
There are 140 sponsors for this. I am most hopeful that
this Committee can bring this legislation up for action.
We have many Americans who are already concerned that the
Supreme Court has grown increasingly polarized. Having the size
of court ping-pong up and down on the basis of the last
election in an attempt to push some sort of power dynamic
politically is not where our country should go. As a top
priority I would ask this Committee to help us keep the nine.
With that, I would yield back or submit myself to
questions.
[The prepared statement of the Hon. Dusty Johnson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. I thank the gentleman. Some commonsense
Second Amendment provisions, and then some commonsense on the
Supreme Court nine would--nine should be fine, that is the way
I look at it, so. We thank you for your testimony.
I think the Committee will kind of hang in recess for a
while. We have got a few minutes until we have got to go to the
floor to vote, and we may have a few more Members show up. I
think that is probably how we should--OK, I think we have a few
more who are coming.
[Whereupon, at 9:53 a.m., the Committee recessed, to
reconvene at 10:11 a.m., the same day.]
Chair Jordan. We will come to order. That concludes today's
hearing. We thank our colleagues for appearing before the
Committee today. Without objection, all Members have five
legislative days to submit additional materials for the record.
Without objection, the hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:11 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
All items submitted for the record by Members of the
Committee on the Judiciary can be found at https://
docs.house.gov/Committee
/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=116534.
[all]