mr. gohmert. >> thank you, mr. chair. i greatly respect my friend from puerto rico, and i really appreciate his sincerity and his effort on behalf of his constituents. the point continues to be made that puerto rico is not a state, puerto rico, it's happened, and i've missed it, has not voted to ask to become a state. but that's also the reason that puerto rico, guam, samoa, virgin islands, actually every american entity except for the district of columbia that does not elect a full voting member of congress does not pay federal income tax. which is why i filed a bill to allow the districtf

mr. gohmert: mr. speaker, i ppeal the ruling of the chair. mr. gohmert: mr. speaker, given the hour and there aren't that many of us here on the floor at this time and that it would require a quorum and would require under the rules an immediate vote, what i'll do is withdraw my amendment at this time, i'm assured that we will still be taking up limitation amendments in the morning, and i can offer it at that time without dragging all our friends out of their place of repose at this time. the chair: the appeal is withdrawn. the amendment has been ruled out of order. the appeal has been withdrawn. for what purpose does the gentleman -- never mind. is any member seeking the ttention of the chair? does any member seek the ttention of the chair? for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. dent: i move that the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion that the committee rise. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the motion is adopted, accordingly the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman

mr. gohmert. >> thank you, mr. chair. i greatly respect my friend from puerto rico, and i really appreciate his sincerity and his effort on behalf of his constituents. the point continues to be made that puerto rico is not a state, puerto rico, it's happened, and i've missed it, has not voted to ask to become a state. but that's also the reason that puerto rico, guam, samoa, virgin islands, actually every american entity except for the district of columbia that does not elect a full voting member of congress does not pay federal income tax. which is why i filed a bill to allow the district of columbia not to have to file, or pay federal income tax. but one of the things i've not really heard anybody address, we talked about in here the need for the minimum wage to be raised. and when there was an article written recently that indicated for an individual who just accepts the available federal welfare payments, they may be looking at $1,700 a month take home whereas under the current minimum wage it's about $1,200 take-home

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. we're back in session and things have continued to proceed on. i appreciate so much my colleagues calling the attention to this national disaster, really. seem to re being used, be at unprecedented levels. i know since i've been here there was basically a war, hence the use of methamphetamines. so we restricted law-abiding citizens' access to sudafed, the one decongest contaminant that works on me, has since it was discovered. drugs we've had more pouring across our southern border, according to what diarra agents and local law enforce -- d.e.a. agents and local law enforcement agents have been telling me in texas be and border patrol down at our border, d.p.s. at our border. drugs pouring in. seems to have more purity and be more devastating to people that get hooked on it. obviously we've had doctors and nurses, i've sentenced many professionals, a number of them at least, for the crimes committed in their getting access to opioids. the a problem. what concerns me also is that it ap

mr. gohmert? >> no. >> mr. lamborn? mr. costa? >> yes. >> mr. wittman? mr. phlegming? >> no. >> miss tsongas? >> yes. >> mr. mcclintock? >> no. >> mr. pierluisi? >> yes. >> mr. thompson? >> yes. >> mr. huffman. >> yes. >> ms. lummis. >> yes. >> mr. ruse? >> yes. >> mr. benishek. >> yes. >> mr. loanthal? >> yes. >> mr. duncan? >> no. >> mr. cartwright? mr. gozar? mr. be ye ye? >> yes. >> mrs. torres? >> present. >> ms dingle? >> yes. >> mr. dunham? >> yes. >> mr. giaga. >> yes. >> mr. cook? mrs. caps? >> yes. >> mr. westerman. >> yes. >> mr. pulis? >> yes. >> mr. graves. >> yes. >> mr. clay? >> yes. >> mr. newhouse? >> no. >> mr. zinki? >> yes. >> mr. heist? >> yes. >> ma'am? >> yes. >> mr. maccar author? >> yes. >> mr. mooney? mr. hardy? >> no. >> mr. lahood? >> yes. >> is there anyone who hasn't voted? >> mr. cartwright has not been recorded? >> yes. >> mr. gozar? >> no. >> mr. wittman? >> no. >> mr. lamborn? >> i'm sorry. mr. gozart votes no. >> yes. mr. wittman votes no. >> votes no. >> mr. lamborn? >> no. >> mr. lamborn votes no. >> is that everybody? clerk will re

mr. gohmert. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. gohmert: i thank chairman greg walden and also his staff have been superb to work with. and it's been refreshing to see how thorough both he and his staff have been in researching this issue. i came prepared to talk about the event and actually how it happened, but chairman walden id such a fantastic job. that the emotion runs high at this point and i'm very grateful for the manner in which this has been presented. also want to thank f.t.c. commissioner pie who in the early days stepped up and paid this an issue to get people's attention. but no greater thanks goes to anyone than to kari's father, hank hunt. it was december of 2013, in marshal, texas, normally known for being kind and helpful city, police respond often in one or two minutes. kari's 9-year-old daughter has not had her name mentioned anywhere to my knowledge, and that's because this child did everything she could possibly do, everything she had been taught and trained to do, what a phenomenal quick thinking child she is.

mr. gohmert: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourns to meet on monday, may 23, 2016, when it shall convene at noon for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, and is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. gohmert: i appreciate you, mr. speaker. it's amazing sometimes the way in the heat of dispute, any of us ometimes can have it happen to us, people don't think clearly. i've been here for nearly 11 1/2 years in congress. it's a tremendous honor to get to be the servant for the people of east texas. but in that 11 1/2 years, four in hem the democrats were the majority and my friend from maryland, mr. hoyer, was the majority leader during those rules never the changed with regard to how the electronic voting worked. for the last 11 1/2 years, it's always been

mr. gohmert from texas. >> i think all the witnesses for being here. it's an important subject. and mr. eckhardt it's obviously very difficult for you. what a handsome young man and you and your wife had, obviously brought a lot of joy. you mentioned he bought it legally. did you ever find out how he heard about this and where he purchased it? >> connor was with a new friend that day. he had actually been offered -- can you hear me okay? >> they been offered marijuana. he declined. he did want that. he did want to be around it and as an alternative to synthetic drugs were suggested and they were purchased at a local smoke shop a lot with other tobacco products. i think truly it was viewed as a safe alternative. >> because it was legal. so it must be okay. >> it was legal and youth find themselves often in situations of peer pressure and you is declining one thing and it was a way to concede. >> he was acting admirably, relying on his government. it was too harmful it will -- it would be illegal obviously. and obviously as you and your wife have been raising awareness , if he had been aw

mr. gohmert from texas. >> i think all the witnesses for being here. it's an important subject. and mr. eckhardt it's obviously very difficult for you. what a handsome young man and you and your wife had, obviously brought a lot of joy. you mentioned he bought it legally. did you ever find out how he heard about this and where he purchased it? >> connor was with a new friend that day. he had actually been offered -- can you hear me okay? >> they been offered marijuana. he declined. he did want that. he did want to be around it and as an alternative to synthetic drugs were suggested and they were purchased at a local smoke shop a lot with other tobacco products. i think truly it was viewed as a safe alternative. >> because it was legal. so it must be okay. >> it was legal and youth find themselves often in situations of peer pressure and you is declining one thing and it was a way to concede. >> he was acting admirably, relying on his government. it was too harmful it will -- it would be illegal obviously. and obviously as you and your wife have been raising awareness , if he had been aw

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: inspiring to hear my friend, mr. russell, speak such inspiring words. and it's interesting, the book from which he kept quoting is the best seller book of all time and it also happens to be the most quoted book in u.s. history here in both the house and senate. ere was a time when most legislators felt it was helpful to getting legislation passed if they had a versus of scripture from the bible that supported their position. then we arrive at the point today where if someone in ongress makes the statement in uoting jesus himself when he discussed marriage and divorce and was asked about it, that he, god, made male and female -- haven't you read, don't you understand, he created male and female so you would have to believe if you supported the agenda that was exhibited today, that jesus didn't know what he was talking about because god not only created male and female, he created a lot of question marks, like the cartoon somebody did of a doctor holding a newborn and the mother asking, what did i have? and the doctor

mr. gohmert? >> i don't want to be changing the priorities of the bondholders from what they currently should be, and so i will not be voting for this, but i don't think for a moment that the judge, the board can be considered as doing for sure the right thing. because we saw what happened with the obama administration got involved in the auto bailout. they rammed through, in violation of the myriad bankruptcy laws, a bankruptcy plan for car manufacturers. it violated bankruptcy law. it violated the constitution. that's why ginsburg but a 24 hour hold on it. and when i was speaking with the late justice scalia, i said, you know, i'm not a big fan of ginsburg, but i was so proud of her, she put a 24 hour hold on that outrageous, unconstitutional, illegal bankruptcy plan regarding our automakers. and he said, well, you know, actually the white house was feeding information to the court back channel, which would be unethical, that if we allowed this day to go more than 24 hours, everybody anyway rela

mr. gohmert for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chair. appreciate the witnesses being here today because this is important since the internal revenue service is the only entity of which i'm aware the federal government that can ignore the constitution as part of its job. nobody else ignores the constitution but they can take people's money without due process, they can take their property, they can move in and destroy take a business that they take a lifetime to build and they have done that so it is particularly important that such an agency they should ignore the constitution must itself be completely overwhelmed with integrity. .. bene >> until you get to the supervisors and above and that is where the rot is occurring and the stink is getting overwhelming. one of the judges in tyler texas, legislated from the bench and had an incredible sense of integrity and had he been listening to koskinen, he had no use for people that came in and obfuscated as this man has done. now, back under the bush administration, in this committee we had an

mr. gohmert, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chair. i appreciate the witnesses being here today.ause this is important since the internal revenue service is the only entity of which i'm aware in the federal government that can ignore the constitution as part of its job. nobody else gets to ignore the constitution. but they can take people's money without due process. they can take their property. they can move in and destroy a business that took a lifetime to build. and they have done that. so it is particularly important that the agents that worked for such an agency, it can ignore the constitution, must itself be completely overwhelmed with integrity. and what we've seen is not the case. i know and have known i.r.s. agents who were as fine and honest of people as walked the worth. i've known i.r.s. faiths furious privately to see the kind of corruption and ishonesty that has overwhelmed the top of the internal revenue service because as one told me, when she just filed an amended tax return because she had forgotten $600, even though she still had a refund coming back, she was