Date: 2012-06-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: 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. twothirds 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 standingand 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 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.