road to establish a quorum are there any additional members who wish to record their presence if not the clerk will report quorum being present and i recognize myself for purposes of an opening statement welcome to both new and returning members of the house judiciary committee today we organize for the hundred twelfth congress adopt committee rules and ratify subcommittee chairmanship member assignments the house judiciary committee is often referred to as the guardian of the constitution we have a responsibility to protect the principles of liberty equality and justice for all americans the issues that fall within this committee of jurisdiction are some of the most important issues facing our country for that reason it is imperative that we work together meaningful solutions that yield real results for the american people chairman emeritus john conyers guided this committee with respect for all members and i hope to continue that tradition you know i've worked together on many issues over the years and those collaborative efforts have set a good precedent  have changed but our good working relationship has not certainly members of this committee will not always agree on the legislation and oversight topics that come before us but we can produce a process for honest debate that allows members of the committee to be heard and their views considered before recognizing ranking member conyers let me introduce nine new members on our side of the aisle first tim griffin of arkansas tim let me recognize you although he joined the judiciary committee as one of our seven freshmen members he is no stranger to the world of politics before his election congressman griffin who served as senior counsel for the house government reform committee and assistant to the president and deputy director in a previous administration he's also a former assistant u s attorney and u s attorney and little rock welcome to you next to sandy adams of florida her careers in the s air force law enforcement and the florida legislature provide experience that will be valuable to the committee congresswoman adams served as a deputy county sheriff for seventeen years we are pleased to have her join us as well we're also joined by trey gowdy of south carolina most recently he served as the solicitor for south carolina seven circuit in this role he prosecuted the full range of federal crimes importantly congressman gowdy is known for cracking down on organized crime and drug trafficking congressman marino brings much law enforcement experience to the committee also joining us has been quite arizona he was a law firm associate before becoming founder and managing director of a company specializing in the acquisition and growth this small business is his knowledge of the private sector will be an asset although he follows in his father's footsteps as a member of congress he is the first representative quayle to sit on the judiciary committee now we welcome him to the committee as well next is dennis ross of florida  and he is not here yet but i'm going to introduce him i like many of the new freshman members he has extensive legal experience although in his capacity as in house counsel for walt disney world he may have had more fun than the rest of our former law firm associates after getting his fill of the rise of disney world congressman ross started his own law practice and we are glad he will be here shortly next time read of new york his membership on this committee will come in handy in the event of any athletic competitions among his notable accomplishments he was an n c double a all american swimmer after working for a law firm in his home state of new york congressman reid open his own law firm and start several other small businesses before his election to congress he was the mayor of corning and we welcome him as well next we are glad for the return of two veterans to the committee  ohio apparently he did not get his fill of congress during the fourteen years he served the people of ohio when previously serving on the judiciary committee he helped lead efforts to block taxation of the internet past product liability reform  tappan anti drug laws and we're pleased to have him with us once again mr chairman i was just wondering if you might change your position on cameras in the courtroom and i will say to the gentleman from ohio my position is not changed but i understand there is may well also returning to the committee is mike pence i see down there of indiana although he left the committee to serve as republican conference chairman we are confident that he made the right decision in returning to join our ranks once again we are pleased to have congressman pence is in the sights and adherence to principles as a member of this committee we welcome him back as well i will now recognize our distinguished ranking member john conyers of michigan know what it is but i came in and went to my there were a lot of people that i hadn't used to see over here i mean you remember you came to me and asked me what is there anything that we can do for you and i said there was a first i said nothing and then i said wait a minute there is one eleven congress fifty seven others ran into difficulty in the other body as we call them and  have and there are members that will be remembered for what they did on the bills the crash video fraud enforcement for mortgage fraud help haiti nine eleven first responders bill and mr maloney the satellite home viewers love for sentencing and so we've enjoyed a good relationship with this committee and i don't mind saying publicly that not withstanding the strongly held views of everybody on this committee  we never descended into personal attacks or the kinds of debates that lowers in the public's mind the importance of the law making work that we have so it's not just the subject matter it's the people here on the committee and the way they interact with one another speaking of subject matter we have it is our responsibility to  not only interpret the constitution as the way the legislators perceive it but also to receive any amendments to the oversight of the department of justice the federal bureau of investigation the federal corrections system intellectual property distinction so i'm very pleased to be with you today i congratulate all of the members and journey of the committee and i seems to be fading about that initial offer but that will certainly consider it pursuant to notice our next order of business is the adoption of the committee rules for one hundred twelfth congress a copy of which i hope is on everyone's desk the clerk will report the rules changes are as an effort to make our actions here at the committee more purposeful and accountable first the committee will provide three days notice for all markups markup text will be made available to members at least forty eight hours before the commencement the rules also urge members to submit their members twenty four hours in advance of the markup after receiving amendments we will prepare and distribute a roster of amendments the roster will list the amendments in the order that their movers will be recognized as members who submit their moment twenty four hours in advance will get priority consideration this amendment process has worked well for the other two committees that i sit on homeland security and science and technology so i'm hoping they'll work on the judiciary committee as well by providing the text of the bill earlier than the house rules requires and by putting our members out for review in advance of a markup we can do a better job as legislate tours and produce a more thoughtful legislative product in an effort to increase the transparency of our activities the new rules mirror the house rules which now require all adopted amendment text to be posted on the committee website within twenty four hours the committee is also going above and beyond the house  several ways we will require our markup transcripts and amendments that were offered but not adopted to be posted on the website within three days of the markup finally there are some changes to the names and jurisdiction of the subcommittees intellectual property jurisdiction will move from the full committee to the subcommittee on intellectual property competition and the internet courts and commercial administrative law will be joined in the same subcommittee and legal reform will move from the full committee to the constitution subcommittee   i bring it to your attention and leave it for us to discuss with the chairman you address for a minute first of all i appreciate your arguing on behalf of the seven republican freshman who will benefit from that type of the arrangement but more seriously let me consider that i have served under both both procedures one where members are recognized on the basis of their seniority and other times where members are recognizing the order in which they appear at a particular hearing last year and i can share from personal experience the frustration that one faces when you are diligent about being here spend hours in a committee hearing only to have your turn to ask a confess to you i was leaning the other way but we will revise that and reconsider i don't want to put freshman freshman against senior members so that's not going to come up to a vote but we'll try to weigh pros and cons and  twenty four hours before the markup will get first but again there are sections of reclaiming my time it's not necessarily mine or because sometimes you'll have you'll be having a fierce debate over a text over someone's proposed amendment and someone will come and say wait a minute if we had this image everybody would agree with that yet again those would be considered on an individual basis the general rule i think will serve us well but there are exceptions and that would be an exception thank you and i thank you for any other questions or observations the question is subcommittee on intellectual property competition and the internet is also the co chair of the congressional internet caucus and chairman of the house republican high tech working group howard coble will serve as the vice chairman of the subcommittee he also has been a leader for many years in the technology an enforcement his commitment to immigration issues goes back many years and has indicated by the nine hundred ninety six l a times headline that gallantly leaves hospital bed to join immigration debate and he will be a strong leader his wealth of experience will make him an effective and dedicated subcommittee chairman trey gowdy of south carolina will serve as vice chairman his notable success in the courtroom will give him a unique invaluable perspective as a subcommittee addresses a myriad of issues related to the federal judiciary finding trent franks will serve as trim of the constitution subcommittee he is a former ranking member of that subcommittee mike pence who is in turning to the committee after being sherman the republican conference will serve as the vice chairman of the subcommittee subcommittee on intellectual property and steve cohen the subcommittee on courts and those are the members that we have agreed upon and i think when combined with the members that you and your caucus have agreed upon we will have some great leadership coming out of th judiciary committee thank you thank you mr conyers and i agree is there any further discussion on these assignments before we vote the question is on approving the appointments on assignments for subcommittee chairs ranking members and majority minority members  shown on the roster all in favor say aye all oppose no the ayes have it in the assignments are approved that concludes our business for today i want to thank all members for coming today i hope this is not the last time that we have such good attendance and the meeting is a