[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10106-10107]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1050
                        THE PATHWAY OF CONTEMPT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this is a solemn place and a 
solemn moment when Members come to express their views.
  A previous speaker drew us to heroes, and we thank those who have 
served us in the United States military. This morning I draw us toward 
constitutional and congressional responsibility. It is all intertwined 
in the honor that we have in serving in this august institution 
entrusted to us by the American public, our individual constituents.
  I first suggest that earlier this week the Supreme Court established 
the superiority of the United States Government in immigration reform. 
In all of the points that were brought by the State of Arizona, two-
thirds were rejected under the understanding and the law that the 
United States Government is in charge of immigration enforcement, 
immigration benefits, and that we should do our job.
  For the one provision that remained standing--and as the ranking 
member formally of the Immigration Subcommittee and on Homeland 
Security, I see this every day. Having just come from Arizona, I have 
seen the good work Congressman Grijalva and Congressman Pastor and 
others are doing. I know that we are working to ensure the safety of 
the border, but I also recognize the need for the dignity of human 
beings. I fight for the dignity.
  Congress should get out of the way in terms of being in the midst of 
confusion and stand in the way and close the gap on immigration reform. 
The only provision left standing was a provision that the Court warned 
the State that if they engage in racial profiling, that too may be 
proven unconstitutional.
  Law enforcement officers have always had the right in a legitimate 
stop to ask for the credentials of anyone they stop. The question is 
now burdening those officers to see who they stop and why they stop. 
Again, I speak to the issue of congressional responsibility.
  Now I come to the act that is going to take place tomorrow, and a 
number of us are writing the Speaker and asking and imploring him, as 
Speaker Newt Gingrich did in 1998, refusing to bring forward a contempt 
charge against Janet Reno that was pointedly personal. We suggest now 
that there is much work to be done. As my colleague indicated, this 
case could be taken to the courts to determine what documents should be 
brought in.
  In addition, the work has not been completed. Kenneth Melson, who 
headed the ATF, has never been allowed to speak before the committee to 
explain that he never told any of the officials, including the Attorney 
General, about the intricacies of Fast and Furious. The former Attorney 
General, who has appeared before the Judiciary Committee on a number of 
times, I know that he would not in any way flee from

[[Page 10107]]

coming and telling what he knew. General Mukasey, he has not been 
asked.
  There have been 7,600 documents presented to the Oversight Committee, 
but yet we will be on the floor tomorrow in a purely personal relating 
of why Attorney General Holder, a lifelong law enforcement officer, the 
senior officer of the United States, the one who has come riding in and 
helping the most vulnerable in the United States, those who cannot get 
to vote, the disabled, and others who have been denied by the 
oppressive rules that have been passed by many States.
  Thank God for the Federal Government and the attorney general of the 
United States. If it had not been for him, I would not be standing here 
because I would have still been bent down in the Deep South with hoses 
on top of me because the General of the United States in the 1960s and 
the Department of Justice came in and helped Dr. Martin Luther King 
after Bull Connor turned those hoses on in Birmingham.
  Tomorrow we malign the very officer that has come to the aid of any 
American, those whose homes are being foreclosed. This General led a 
massive settlement to be able to stand and to be able to provide for 
the most vulnerable of Americans.
  Congress has the responsibility of creating jobs, of passing an 
important transportation HUD bill that will provide housing and 
rebuilding of our highways and freeways. Tomorrow we will stop and 
pause and begin to call each other names and to take a man whose very 
life has been in public service, who has led the Department of Justice 
with dignity and respect, who has answered questions, who has prepared, 
who has appeared before us with a demeanor that is respective of his 
position. All I ask is that we not bring this to the floor and cooler 
heads will come and sit down and resolve the remaining documents.
  For the love of this Nation, for the patriotism and the honor of 
serving in the United States Congress, I beg of this Speaker and this 
House: Do not go down the pathway of contempt. I beg of you to raise 
this House to a level of dignity.

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