conyers. and before we swear in the witnesses, i would like to recognize the presence of the chief sponsor of the legislation, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. yoder. thank you for being with us today. kansas. kansas. kansas. the gentleman from wisconsin says he will take you. we welcome our distinguished witnesses today. if you would all please rise. i will begin by swearing you in. if you would please raise your right hand. do you and each of you swear that the testimony that you are about to give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? thank you very much. please by seated. let the record reflect that the witnesses have responded in the affirmative. the director of the enforcement division at the united states securities and exchange commission where he has served since 2013. prior to joining the sec, he served as the assistant united states attorney in the u.s. attorney's office for the southern district of new york where he was a deputy chief appell

for five decades, congressman conyers has been a champion of civil rights and voting rights. his distinguished career is highlighted by his work on important civil rights legislation, such as the martin luther king holiday act of 1983, the motor voters bill of 1993, and the help america vote act of 2002. today he continues to fight for voting rights and civil rights as the ranking member on the house judiciary committee. i look forward to welcoming him to our rosa parks celebration because he shared a personal relationship with her, who worked for congressman conyers from 1964 until 1988. however, before working with congressman conyers, she took a stand for justice and equality. the power of one person changed our nation forever. our fight for racial equality and real inclusion is ongoing as recently publicized tensions across our nation has made this clear. with the supreme court decision to strike down section 4 of the voting rights act of 1965 in shelby v. holder, we no longer have the safety net that ensures americans, especially minorities, are able to participate in ou

and you can see this conyer belt of moistureeaded our way with winds out of the southwest.is alsoulli up some very warm air. temperatures in the 50's. andoday we are hding at 56. temperatures are actuallyn the 70's. we will be tapng into temperates into the 70's, that type wmth as we head was christmas e. now it is going to come at a cost. i am not talking aut sny, temperatures in the 60's and 70's, htoc wath, cistmas e could be the warmest however, it's going to come with clouds and rain. and furetcker showing the next three dayse could get more thanbout an inch and a half of rain in some areas. rain and when you needhe umellas in the full accuweather forecast. >> see you ortl thank you. >>> as we hd into winter keep 6abc.com/weather bookmarked as your vote. there youan quickly access the livetormtracker 6 radar and get the full seven-day recast. >> and a septa bus driver expended witut pay after this video surfaced of him assauing a der. te video shows the driver uring water onto a passenger, and it was posted on socl dia the seaoce tell "action news" it happened friyhile

goodlatte and ranking member conyers. my fellow co-sponsors.rge all my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we have no further speakers remaining. we are prepared to close if the gentleman from tennessee is prepared to close. mr. cohen: i think i have closed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia is recognized to close. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. speaker. i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation that continues a very good [tiss that benefits our guard and reservemen. yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4246. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the m

conyers. and before we swear in the witnesses, i'd like to recognize the presence of the chief sponsor of the legislation, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. yoder. thank you for being with us today. kansas. kansas. kansas. the gentleman from wisconsin says he'll take you. we welcome our distinguished witnesses today, and if you would all please rise, i'll begin by swearing you in. if you'd please raise your right hand. do you and each of you swear that the testimony that you are about to give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god? thank you very much. and may you please be seated, and let the record reflect that the witnesses have responded in the affirmative. mr. andu seresni is the director of the enforcement division at the united states southeastern conference where he has served since 2013. prior to joining the s.e.c., he served as the assistant united states attorney in the u.s. attorney's office for the southern district of new york where he was

ranking member conyers joined our conversation as well. ranking member conyers has had invaluable input into this bill. i want to emphasize, that's what the leadership of this body is always talking about, doing things in a bipartisan way. so again, we had a bipartisan, bicameral agreement with four leaders of the committee of jurisdictions. the leaderships of both bodies said that committees would do their job and be relevant to the legislative process again, except for hb-5 program, evidently. and we weren't the only ones that wanted action. we had colleagues like chairman corker and chairman johnson on november the 6th joining me in sending a letter to leaders mcconnell and reid urging them to include critical provisions that would better guard against fraud and abuse and give the department, the department of homeland security, the ability to terminate centers that the secretary johnson didn't feel he had the authority to terminate and where there was obvious fraud should have been terminated. now, as i just said about senator feinstei

conyers. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i thank my colleague for letting me go in front of her. >> mr. chairman, can i put these in the record before going forward? thank you for your kindness. i have a meeting. i would like to add to the record sent mr. chair a letter, a statement from the immigration -- excuse my, american immigration counsel under funding of immigration courts under mines justis and a second document, executive office for immigration review unaccompanied children, prior to quota adjudication. unanimous consent to put these items into the record. >> without objection. >> thank you. >> you're more than welcome. i ask unanimous consent to put my opening statement in the record, mr. chairman. >> without objection. >> and we find that there's a problem that our immigration judge judges -- well, when it comes to immigrants, we sometimes confuse judicial discretion with judicial abuse. i think you're very sensitive to that, director. the -- too much of our proposals legislatively has sought to streamline th

congressman matsu you of california-- congressman conyers. katherine clark of massachusetts. yvette clarke of new york. congressman velasquez from new york. congresswoman lawrence from michigan. congresswoman jackson lee of texas. congresswoman torres of california. we are very proud. members will be coming and going. we have floor action on all of this today. with that, i am going to recognize our chairman and 2 vice chairs of the task force. congress woman as the -- congressman esty and congressman scott to put their statements on the record. congresswoman -- congressman becerra. rep. becerra: thank you with your testimonies of that we can do a better job preventing gun violence. it is crazy that we can't do the basic research that gives us better answers. thank you for having made to that clear. she sticks and, i will pose my question to you. pose my dixon, i will question to you. if you are an innocent bystander and some he pulls out an assault weapon, you feel terrorized. it should make a difference who the perpetrator is. if it's someone who hates america, or he to beca

conyers for his opening statement. >> good morning and those that are in 2141 to participate in the listening of this measure. had hr 699 and the e-mail privacy act enjoys, and i am pleased to say that over whming support of the house. as of this morning they have earned cospontaneous ers and 199 plub, 113 democrats and then the house of committee. now, what do they all have in common? first of all, we agree that the electronic communication is outdated and provides unjustifiable standards for government access to our stored communication. this statue continues to serve as one of the main guarantees of our digital privacy we should freely share the information online. the consequences of doing a 30-year-old understanding of the technology to modern kbh communication are at best. the law seems to apply the standards to the government access to the same e-mails at different points in the life cycle. when it's drafted and when it's archived in the cloud. we are not well served by a law whose application is unpredictable and that the courts have had a great difficulty in interpreting. because of

continue to belong to this body, they are congressman john conyers from michigan, who is actually the dean of the house, as well as congressman charles range federal the state of new york, they were two of our founding members. the c.b.c. has 46 members. one is from the other body, the united states senate, and 45 serve here in the house of representatives. one of our 45 members is a republican member of this body, our dear friend from utah, ms. love. so it is absolutely correct for us to say that we are bicameral and fer bipartisan. collectively, we represent 23 states, in addition to the district of columbia and the virgin islands and collectively, mr. speaker, we represent more than 30 million people. and i might say, of the 21 standing committees that we have here in the house, seven of those 21 committees has a c.b.c. member as the top democrat on the committee. we call that the ranking member. and the gentleman who was speak -- who will speak in just a moment, mr. scott of virginia is one of those ranking members on the committee on the education and work force. but mr. speaker,

i'm the estate manager at 21 hurlingham drive in backcountry greenwich on conyers farm. i can't wait to show you around this beautiful home. this 13,000 square foot home is this incredible 1985 brick georgian. eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and is incredible for entertaining. the lower level is home to an elegant wine cellar, and a home theater. and through the french doors, it opens up to the pool. the house sits on 13 acres, and it has anything you could ever wish for, and more. you've got your pool, pool house, formal gardens, and green house, observatory, and one more surprise right this way. down here, you have your very own private ice rink. and in the summer, it converts back to a tennis court. it's just one more feature of opulence on this already magical estate. thank you for joining me today for this glimpse of the very best of backcountry greenwich. still sara gore: ahead on "open house," anna burke shares her inspiring design secrets. we'll be right back. we are wrapping things up today with young, up and coming interior designer, anna burke. anna is known

conyers. john conyers: tell me, what is the immigration services doing to ensure that the deferred action for childhood arrivals renewal applications are educated -- are educated in a timely fashion so that young people do not suffer some of the grave consequences we have heard about. leon rodriguez: that is an important question. we did have some circumstances early on because of delayed applications, because of issues related to either errors and applications, background checks, where some individuals were not being approved prior to the expiration of their deferred action. we have taken a number of steps to ensure, especially for those individuals who actually apply on time. that we do -- we are able to finish those applications before the expiration's. what we have done, first of all, we have extended the time at which we give them an initial notification they are up for renewal. we now do it 180 days before expiration, rather than 150 days. we have accelerated the time in the cycle when w

the distinguished ranking member of the judiciary committee congressman conyers. katherine clark of massachusetts. yette clarke, new york. congresswoman capps of california. congressman gallego of arizona, congressman desauliner from california. congresswoman velazquez of new york. congresswoman kaptur of ohio. congresswoman lawrence of michigan. congressman norcross of new jersey. congresswoman jackson lee of texas. congresswoman torres of california. congressman engel of new york. we are very proud. members will be coming and going because we have floor action on all of this today. with that i'm going to recognize our chairman and two vice chairs of the task force, congressman becerra, congresswoman esty, and congressman bobby scott for them to put their questions or statements on the record. mr. becerra. mr. becerra: thank you, madam leader. i'll do the best can i to keep time to be a good role model here. first i would like to say thank you for the testimony with regard to the research that must be done so we can do a better job of preventing gun violence. it'

conyers. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i thank my colleague for letting me go in front of her. >> mr. chairman, can i put these in the record before going forward? thank you for your kindness. i have a meeting. i would like to add to the record unanimous consent, mr. chair a letter, a statement from the immigration -- excuse my, american immigration counsel under funding of immigration courts under mines justice and a second document, executive office for immigration review unaccompanied children, prior to quota adjudication. unanimous consent to put these items into the record. >> without objection. >> thank you. >> you're more than welcome. i ask unanimous consent to put my opening statement in the record, mr. chairman. >> without objection. >> and we find that there's a problem that our immigration judges -- well, when it comes to immigrants, we sometimes confuse judicial discretion with judicial abuse. i think you're very sensitive to that, director. the -- too much of our proposals legislatively has sought to stre

conyers. the chair recognizes the man from wisconsin for five minutes. >> thank you. in the case of 2010 the sixth circuit court ruled that america's e-mails is protected by the fourth amendment. i agree with that holding. since that decision, the sec has been unable to subpoena e-mail content from service providers. now mr. cresny, i read your testimony and did you write it in 2009? >> no, i wrote it -- >> okay, thank you very much. now if the sec cannot currently subpoena e-mail content from service providers, is it truthful to testify that if hr-699 becomes law the sec will be denied the ability to obtain evidence? >> i don't agree that we are not able to do it currently. we have refrained from doing it in the deference to congress' ongoing decisions. >> okay. i guess you ignored war shack on that. almost 30 years ago the sec could only subpoena e-mail content after it was older than 180 days. aren't you asking this committee to expand illegal authority that was found unconstitutional in a more limited form. >> i don't think we are. >> why aren't you? because you w

conyers. >> thank you mr. chairman and welcome mr. director.tell me, what is the immigration services doing to ensure that the deferred action for childhood arrivals renewal applications are adjudicated in a timely fashion so that young people don't suffer some of the grave consequences we have heard about? >> that is an important question we did have some circumstances early on because of delayed applications because of issues related to either errors and applications or background checks were some individuals were not being approved prior to the expiration of their deferred action. we have taken a number of steps to ensure, especially specially for those individuals who apply on time, that we do, are able to finish adjudicating those applications before the expiration. first of all we have extended the time at which we give them initial notification of the fact that they are coming up for renewal. we now do it 180 days before expiration rather than 150 days. we have accelerated the time, the cycle when we began adjudicating issues that we fin

the distinguished ranking member of the judiciary committee congressman conyers. katherine clark of massachusetts. yette clarke, new york. congresswoman capps of california. congressman gallego of arizona, congressman desauliner from california. congresswoman velazquez of new york. congresswoman kaptur of ohio. congresswoman lawrence of michigan. congressman norcross of new jersey. congresswoman jackson lee of texas. congresswoman torres of california. congressman engel of new york. we are very proud. members will be coming and going because we have floor action on all of this today. with that i'm going to recognize our chairman and two vice chairs of the task force, congressman becerra, congresswoman esty, and congressman bobby scott for them to put their questions or statements on the record. mr. becerra. mr. becerra: thank you, madam leader. i'll do the best can i to keep time to be a good role model here. first i would like to say thank you for the testimony with regard to the research that must be done so we can do a better job of preventing gun violence. it'

congressman conyers. katherine clark of massachusetts. yvette clarke of new york. congresswoman catsup of california. harvest woman-- congressman velasquez from new york. congresswoman lawrence from michigan. congresswoman jackson lee of texas. congresswoman torres of california. congressman angles of new york. members will be coming and going. we have for action on all of this today. -- floor action on all of this today. i will recognize our chairman and 2 vice chairs of the task force. congressman este and congresswoman bobby scott for us to put their questions or statements on the record. rep. becerra: thank you with your testimonies of that we can do a better job providing -- preventing gun violence. it is crazy that we can't do the basic research that gives us better answers. thank you for having me that clear. chief dixon, i will post my question to you. bystander an innocent and some he pulls out an assault weapon, you feel terrorized. it should make a difference who the perpetrator is. if it's someone who hates america, were he to because of the color of yo

conyers. i would like to recognize the presence of the chief sponsor of the legislation, the german from wisconsin. >> kansas. kansas. kansas. the gentleman from wisconsin [laughter] we welcome my distinguished witnesses today. i will begin my swearing un. please raise your right hand. do you and each of these were the testimony you are about to give shall be the truth,truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth so help you got? thank you very much. please be seated. the witnesses have responded in the affirmative. the director of the enforcement division of the united states securities and exchange commission where he has served since 2013. prior to joining the sec he served as the assistant united states attorney for the southern district of new york where he was a deputy chief appellate attorney and a member of the securities and commodities fraud task force and major crimes unit. as a prosecutor he handled numerous white-collar criminal investigations, trial and appeal including matters

conyers and mr. goodlatte and many other committees. our commitment should be to secure the american people. so in this instance, pursuant to the fiscal year 2013 consolidated and furthering appropriations act, the department of homeland security was directed to evaluate its activities related to preventing and responding to threats posed by chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive weapons and to determine whether there were ways to improve coordination. two years later, d.h.s. submitted its report to congress and requested that certain activities be consolidated to create a center of gravity for activities.rnbe this seeks to implement many of the department's proposal. it would bring the office of health affairs, the office of bombing prevention, the chemical and biological risk assessment activities, and staff from the office of policy and office of coordination operations together in a single office headed by a new assistant secretary. i distinctly remember being in some of the meetings and hearings that drew about s

the distinguished ranking member of the judiciary committee congressman conyers. katherine clark of massachusetts. yette clarke, new york. congresswoman capps of california. congressman gallego of arizona, congressman desauliner from california. congresswoman velazquez of new york. congresswoman kaptur of ohio. congresswoman lawrence of michigan. congressman norcross of new jersey congresswoman velasquez of new york, captor of ohio, congresswoman lawrence of michigan, congressman norcross of new jersey, congresswoman jackson-lee of texas, congresswoman torres of california, congressmanening engel of new york. members will be coming and going because we have floor action on all of this today. with that i'm going to recognize our chairman and two vice chairs of the task force, congressman becerra, congresswoman esty and bobby scott for them to put their questions or statements on the record. >> i'll do my best to keep to the time and be a good role model. thank you for the testimony with regard to the research that must be done so we can do a better job of preventin

the distinguished ranking member of the judiciary committee congressman conyers. katherine clark of massachusetts. yette clarke, new york. congresswoman capps of california. congressman gallego of arizona, congressman desauliner from california. congresswoman velazquez of new york. congresswoman kaptur of ohio. congresswoman lawrence of michigan. congressman norcross of new jersey. congresswoman jackson lee of texas. congresswoman torres of california. congressman engel of new york. we are very proud. members will be coming and going because we have floor action on all of this today. with that i'm going to recognize our chairman and two vice chairs of the task force, congressman becerra, congresswoman esty, and congressman bobby scott for them to put their questions or statements on the record. mr. becerra. mr. becerra: thank you, madam leader. i'll do the best can i to keep time to be a good role model here. first i would like to say thank you for the testimony with regard to the research that must be done so we can do a better job of preventing gun violence. it'

conyers whenever they come.in by recognizing the gentleman from the great state of texas for his questions. the former united states attorney mr. radcliff. >> tahank you, mr. chairman, fo holding this hearing. thank you for being here today. the 700,000 texans i represent are certainly concerned about the impacts of illegal immigration in this country and what many see as an environment of lawlessness created by this administration when it comes to the enforcement of our immigration laws and frankly the inefficiency of our immigration system. and one of the things that highlights that is a fact that was related by the chairman, the fact that there are approximately 459,000 immigration cases waiting for action right now. and, you know, it would appear that that type of backlog of cases really amounts to de facto amnesty. because it allows individuals that are in this country perhaps illegally to remain here without any repercussions as their case are stuck in administrative limbo, so i'm anxious to hear some of y

insert in the record a dear colleague that was sent to all of us from representatives lofgren, amash, conyersfarenthold and polis in opposition to the cybersecurity measure being part of this omnibus appropriations bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: and one additional concern for me and for many others is an awful provision, and i stress the word awful, in this bill which constitutes a big giveaway to big oil and could lead to an increase in gas prices. big oil gives big money to campaigns and sadly big oil is getting a very big return on its investment with this bill. this provision could intensify climate change, have devastating environmental impacts and does nothing to save consumers money on energy costs. i will be asking my colleagues to defeat the previous question and that the previous question is -- if the previous question is defeated, i'll offer an amendment to strike this outrageous provision. compromise is never easy, but in a divided government, it is essential if we are to move forward. one of my biggest critiques of this republican-controlled congr

conyers: thank you, mr. speaker. nd ranking member lofgren. members of the house, as much as any member in this body, i appreciate the unique situation our nation is in as we struggle to effectively combat terrorism . while adhering to our nation's commitment to freedom and liberty, i fully recognize and appreciate the bill before us today represents an effort to craft a more bipartisan response to recent terrorist incidents, particularly when compared to the seriously flawed refugee bill that this body voted on only several weeks ago. i commend the office for including many commonsense improvements to the visa waiver program that will improve the system in a neutral and nondiscriminatory manner. however, i believe that provisions in the legislation restricting the use of the visa waiver program to individuals who have traveled to syria or iraq or are dual nationals of these or other covered nations are discriminatory. i understand that these individuals are not banned from traveling to our nation and are simply subject to increased questionin

both chairman goodlatte and chairman upton, along with ranking members conyers an ranking member pallone support this bill and want to pass it. there are just seven legislative days left. this is something we all agree on. something that is clearly the right thing to do. i urge my colleagues, mr. speaker, to get this done this year. let's keep our promise to the 9/11 heroes and heroines, to the first responders, to the victims, to the survivors. let's pass this bill this year. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise on behalf of or trure -- of our true american heroes, our veterans, to highlight important legislation that will help those who need it most. last month i introduced the promise act to promote safety, patient advocacy and better access to quality care for veterans and the promise act will increase safety for opioid therapy and pain management, encourage more transparency at the v.a., encourage more outreach and awareness of the patient advocacy

jones, joe pitts, dana rohrabacher, jim sensenbrenner, pete sessions and myself and democrats john conyers, bobby scott and maxine waters. this turned out to be one of the most popular votes i ever cast, especially with teachers. i have spoken well over 1,000 times in schools through the years and i voted against the bill in 2001 because i felt the teachers, principals and parents in east tennessee had enough common sense and intelligence to run their own schools and classrooms and didn't need washington bureaucrats telling them what to do the no child left behind law was a great overreaction to failed schools in some of our nation's biggest cities and it needs to be replaced. today i rise in support of the every student succeeds act so we can leave behind the no child left behind law. "the wall street journal" -- as a previous speaker mentioned, "the wall street journal" published an editorial calling this new bill, quote a bipartisan compromise that would be, quote, the largest devolution of federal control in a quarter severagethrism paper pointed out that it's far better than the statu

conyers, each will control 20 minutes. mr.ulvaney: i yield myself such time as i may consume and i ask unanimous consent that members have five legislative days to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mulvaney: the story behind this bill, this is a senate bill but the house bill is almost exactly the same. the story behind how this bill comes to the floor is one of those stories that it should make folks confident that the system can work. i was on i got a question from one of the constituents about all of the money that they've heard the government wastes by paying the wrong people, paying dead people, or paying people way too much money. and i remember it specifically, mr. speaker, because shortly after that, my uncle passed away. and when my uncle passed away, i was named the executor of his estate. one of the things i remember very specifically, this is the first time i was an executor of an estate, i got a notice 10 days after he had died, something very short, two weeks, from the social secu

conyers. >> thank you, mr. chairman. welcome, mr. director.ll me, what is the immigration services doing to ensure that the deferred action for childhood arrival ss, renewal applications are adjudicated in a timely fashion so that young people don't suffer some of the grave consequences we've heard about? >> that is an important question. we did have some circumstances early on because of delayed applications, because of issues related to either errors in applications, background checks where some individuals were not being approved prior to the expiration of their deferred action. we have taken a number of steps to ensure especially for those individuals who apply on time, that we do -- are able to finish adjudicating applications before expiration. first of all, we have extended the time at which we give them initial notification of the fact that they're coming up for renewal. we now do it 180 day before expiration rather than 150 days. we have accelerated the time in the cycle when we begin adjudicating issues that we find with applications