mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, throughout my career in elected office, i believed in and adhered to two fundamental principles regarding firearms policy. first, the right guaranteed to law-abiding americans by the second amendment must be aggressively protected and preserved. second, the laws we have on the books need to be enforced to the fullest extent possible. the bipartisan bill before us today does both. h.r. 38 ensures that law-abiding citizens' second amendment right does not end when they cross state lines. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. please take all conversations to the cloakrooms or off the floor. the gentleman from virginia. mr. goodlatte: the bill allows law-abiding gun owners with valid state issued concealed carry firearm permits to -- or those who live in so-called constitutional carry states, to carry a concealed firearm in any other state that also allows conceal carey. we know citizens who carry a concealed firearm are not

mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, throughout my career in elected office, i believed in and adhered to two fundamental principles regarding firearms policy. first, the right guaranteed to law-abiding americans by the second amendment must be aggressively protected and preserved. second, the laws we have on the books need to be enforced to the fullest extent possible. the bipartisan bill before us today does both. h.r. 38 ensures that law-abiding citizens' second amendment right does not end when they cross state lines. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. please take all conversations to the cloakrooms or off the floor. the gentleman from virginia. mr. goodlatte: the bill allows law-abiding gun owners with valid state issued concealed carry firearm permits to -- or those who live in so-called constitutional carry states, to carry a concealed firearm in any other state that also allows conceal carey. we know citizens who carry a concealed firearm are not

mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. chairman. chairman sessions, ranking member slaughter, and members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today in support of h.r. 38, the concealed carry reciprocity act of 2017. h.r. 38 was introduced by mr. hudson of north carolina and is co-sponsored by 213 members from both sides of the aisle. this bill allows law-abiding gun owners with valid state-issued concealed firearm permits or those who live in so-called constitutional carry states to carry a con center field firearm in any other -- a concealed carry firearm in any other state that allows concealed carry. carrying concealed weapons reduces violent crime rates by deterring would-be assailants and a-- and by allowing law-abiggede citizens to defend themselves. a 1997 study, regarding the effect of concealed carry laws on crime rates, estimated that when state concealed handgun laws went into effect in a county, murders fell by more than 7%, and rapes and aggravated assaults fell by similar percentages. t

mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1730, the protecting religiously affiliated institutions act of 2017, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1730, a bill to amend title 18, united states code, to provide for the protection of community centers with religious affiliation and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. raskin, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and tend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h.r. 1730, currently under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as

mr. goodlatte: mr.peaker, pursuant to house resolution 645, i call up the bill h.r. 38, the concealed carry reciprocity act of 2017, and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 320, h.r. 38, a bill to amend title 18, united states code, to provide a means by which nonresidents of a state whose residents may carry concealed firearms may also do so in the state. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 645, in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on the judiciary printed in the bill, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of rules committee print 115-45, is adopted, and the bill, as amended, is considered as read. the bill shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the committee on the judiciary. the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, and the gentleman from new york

mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. chairman. chairman sessions, ranking member slaughter, and members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today in support of h.r. 38, the concealed carry reciprocity act of 2017. h.r. 38 was introduced by mr. hudson of north carolina and is co-sponsored by 213 members from both sides of the aisle. this bill allows law-abiding gun owners with valid state-issued concealed firearm permits or those who live in so-called constitutional carry states to carry a concealed carry firearm in any other state that allows concealed carry. carrying concealed weapons reduces violent crime rates by deterring would-be assailants and a -- and by allowing law-abiding citizens to defend themselves. a 1997 study, regarding the effect of concealed carry laws on crime rates, estimated that when state concealed handgun laws went into effect in a county, murders fell by more than 7%, and rapes and aggravated assaults fell by similar percentages. this bill simply allows americans who travel

mr. goodlatte, have you ever been on broadway? >> to shows, yes. >> would you personally like for every one of those people to be carrying a gun? >> if they have a lawful concealed/carry permit, i would feel safer than if i were at a venue where no one was allowed to have a gun except the person who smuggled a gun in for the purpose of committing mayhem. >> would we as congress persons be committed to carry our guns on the floor of the house of house of representatives? >> no, i don't believe so. >> why? why wouldn't we? >> that would depend on the rules of the house. i'm here to talk about this bill today, not about -- to propose changes to other rules. >> then tell me why you chose to put this bill with the nix fix when, in fact, the nix fix would have mine and your support, and this bill is going nowhere fast, other than utilizing the time that i'm utilizing now? >> well, i believe -- i believe that both bills complement each other in keeping people safe. because the statistics are very clear that, for example, in your state of

mr. goodlatte's amendment to mrs. wagner's legislation that involves targeting the facilitation of prostitution with a specific intent standard and carving out state criminal laws that would do the same thing? would such a proposal, serve that purpose of balance -- proposal serve that purpose of balance? mr. goldman: i have seen that legislation and i think the effort to focus on specific intent to facilitate prostitution is a productive way of approaching the issue. i consider it to be superior than the alternatives i have seen. mr. doyle: you know, i want to again applaud the good work of the senate permanent subcommittee on investigations because they're bringing the details of this issue into focus. after reading their staff report it's clear backpage.com not only profited from online sex trafficking but that backpage.com also helped to develop content for online sex traffickers. professionor goldman, it's my -- professor goldman, it's my understanding section 230 does not protect the website when it develops cont

mr. goodlatte, making his opening remarks. >> -- to all citizens who expect a system of blind and equal justice. the department of justice investigations must not be tainted by individuals imposing their own political prejudices. we are now beginning to better understand the magnitude of this insider bias on mr. mueller's team. first, we have fbi agent peter struck and fbi lawyer lisa paige, exchanging information showing extreme bias against mr. trump. a fact that would be bad enough if not for the fact that these two individuals were employed as part of the mueller dream team, investigating the very person for whom they were showing disdain. and calling it mere disdain is generous. according to the documents produced last night to this committee, mr. struck refer to the president as a loathsome human and awful while continually praising hillary clinton and the obamas. these text messages prove what we all suspected. high-ranking fbi officials involved in the clinton investigation were personally invested in the outcome of the election and clearly let their strong, political opinions cloud the

mr. goodlatte, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1730 as amended, on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1730, a bill to amend title 18, united states code, to provide for the protection of community centers with religious affiliation and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 402. the nays are two. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair lays before the house the following personal request. he

mr. goodlatte's amendment to targeting with a specific intent standard? would such a proposal serve that purpose of balance? >> i have seen the proposed legislation. i do think the effort to focus on prostitution i consider superior than the alternatives i've seen. >> i want to again applaud the good work of the senate permanent subcommittee on this investigation because they're bringing details of this in focus. after reading their staff report, it's clear they not only profited from online sex traffic, but backpage.com helped develop content for online traffickers. it's my understanding section 230 does not protect when it develops this way. can you explain for us where the courts have drawn the line between developing content, which is not protected and allowing third party posts, which is? >> the statute excludes anyone who creates or develops content in whole or in part. someone who develops content in part is not covered by the statute per its terms. in my opinion, the courts have interpreted that to really say the party doesn't qualify for the sect

mr. chairman. rep. goodlatte: the chair recognizes the taliban from california for five minutes. --rep.k you, mr. chair chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chair. you have spent your entire career working for the people of the united states. ag rosenstein: i was a u.s. attorney. i was a political appointee. 15 years prior to that, a career attorney. >> let me ask you, in taking a look at the individuals who are working on the matters we are , are they career attorneys in the department who are working on this? some are.ein: they are requested to provide details, and they have the --hority to hire authority attorneys from outside the department. be subject to the merit sensible -- merit system principles in the reform act? ag rosenstein: yes, they would. >> we have been on the committee for a long time. i remember in 2008, there were allegations the department of as ace had used politics basis for hiring and firing. and they issued a report .utlining the impropriety one of the things they said was the departmental policy on nondiscri

mr. chair, i'd like to enter the document for the record. chairman goodlatte, i'd like to enter a document for the record. >> no objection. mr. lieu: i'm going to ask you about three specific findings. this report was released earlier this year. it states, and this is the fbi , cia, nsa and others. we assess russian president putin influenced a campaign aimed at the u.s. presidential election. russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the u.s. democratic process, denigrate secretary clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency. we further assess vladimir putin and the russian government developed a clear preference for president elect trump. does the fbi stand by that assessment? dir. wray: as we sit here right now, i have not seen any information that would cause me to question the basic conclusions of the intelligence community assessment. mr. lieu: thank you. dir. wray: including that one. mr. lieu: i'm going to ask you about two more. we also assess putin, the russian government aspired to help president trump's election chances when p

mr. gowdy for five minutes. >> thank you, chairman goodlatte. director wray, somewhere today a group of our fellow citizens will be asked if they can be fair, impartial, free of bias before they sit in judgment of others on a jury. even in the smallest of courtrooms where there are nothing but empty seats and no television cameras. somewhere today, those selected to sit in judgment of their fellow citizens will be told that they must wait until the very last witness testifies and the last piece of evidence has been introduced before they can even begin top deliberate on an outcome. so if our fellow citizens should be impartial and free of bias and if our fellow citizens must wait until the last piece of evidence is introduced, the last witness is called before they can reach a verdict, a conclusion, an outcome, then i don't think it's asking too much that the department of justice and the fbi do the same thing. there is no member of congress who holds the department and bureau in higher esteem than i do. there are others who hold new highest ste

also i want to thank chairman goodlatte for his effort and leadership in moving this bill through the committee process. mr. speaker, today we can take a this owards eradicating barbaric practice and urge my colleagues to support passage of h.r. 3317. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. it's certainly a pleasure to yield to a good friend and champion of these issues dealing with vulnerable women, that is the distinguished gentlelady from new york, carolyn maloney, who is the original sponsor of this legislation along with mr. trott. i yield two minutes to the gentlelady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. maloney: i thank my good friend, sheila jackson lee, for her extraordinary leadership on this issue and so many others. i thank you for yielding to me. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 3317, the stopping abusive female exploitation or safe act. it is a bipartisan, noncontroversial issue and i hope this body unanimously supports it. as i

mr. mueller if he deserves the protection and has done nothing to violate his duties and responsibilities? >> i won't take any action unless he's violated his duties. >> sreenivasan: g.o.p. members, such as jim jordan, like goodlatteve been calling for a second special counsel to investigate bias in mueller's probe. >> you're the guy in charge. you could disband the mueller special prosecutor and you can do what we've all called for: appoint a second special counsel to look into this. >> we take very seriously the concerns of 20 members of this committee or one member of this committee, but we have a responsibility to make an independent determination, and we will. >> sreenivasan: one of mueller's top deputies, andrew weissman, has also come under scrutiny for an email praising former acting attorney general sally yates. he told her he was "so proud and in awe" of her refusal to enforce the president's travel ban. we take a closer look now at the ramped-up campaign by some conservative lawmakers to discredit mueller's probe, with two former justice department officials who worked under different presidential administrations. michael mukasey was u.s. attorney general under president bush, from 2007 to 2009. and, ne

mr. rosenstein. for the better part of a year, my colleagues and i have implored this committee to conduct real oversight of the department of justice. on january 24th, 2017, we wrote to chairman goodlattes on president trump's conflicts of interest at home and abroad. citing to experts across the political spectrum we showed the administrate's attempts are so far whole inadequate. six weeks later attorney general sessions was forced to recuse himself from the russia investigation but we have not held a single hearing on the question of conflicts of interest. on march 8th we wrote again to the chairman encouraging him to call hearings on russia's alleged interference in the u.s. election. again no such hearings were ever held. in fact, this committee which during the obama administration held half a dozen hearings around operation fast and furious, received testimony from f.b.i. director comey three times in 13 months and detailed staff and resources to a benghazi investigation that cost the public almost $8 million, this committee from inauguration today until four weeks ago was largely silent in terms of oversight. we haven't lifted a finger on election security. attorney general sess

mr. rosenstein. for the better part of a year my colleagues and i have employed this committee conduct real oversight of the department of justice. on january 24t4th, 2017, we wro to chairman goodlatte insisting that the committee hold hearinge on president trump's conflicts of interest. we showed adthat, quote the ul administration's attempts to address its ongoing conflicts of interests are so far wholly inadequate. six weeks later attorney general sessions recused himself from the russia investigation but o have not held a single hearing on the conflicts of interest. on march 8th we wrote again encouraging him to call hearings quote, russia's alleged interference in the u.s. election. again no such hearings were ever held. in fact, this committee which during the obama administration held half a dozen hearings around operation fast and furious, received testimony from fbi director comey three times in 13 months, and detailed staff and resources to a ben gbenghaz investigation that cost the public. we haven't lifted a finger on election security. attorney general sessions told us on november 14th he has done nothing to secureho the next election from threats from at home and abroa

mr. goodlatte: for the purpose of closing arguments, i yield to the gentleman from arizona, mr. schweikert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. schweikert: this is one of those -- we all have subjects that we find fascinating and for 25 years i kept files of abstracts on this because i actually participating in writing arizona's 1993 concealed carry law. i wish this was an honest conversation about the data because we all want our communities and families to be safer. i believe i can show you the statistical abstract data, states like arizona, adjusted for population, the violent use of firearms is almost one half of what it was before the adoption of our concealed carry law. concealed carry response i will for that? of course not. some of it is mental health, some of it is law enforcement, some of it is incarceration. it's complicated. but if you look at these data abstracts of crime statistics in the united states with the misuse of firearms, turns out that states that have adopted concealed carry compared to states that have gone other direc