mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i am pleased now to recognize one of our most distinguished members of the judiciary committee who headed the task force for impeachment in our committee, adam schiff, he has perform -- adam schiff -- he's performed remarkably well in a bipartisan committee and his former experience as an assistant u.s. attorney held him in very good stead. i recognize the distinguished gentleman from california for 10 minutes. . mr. schiff: i thank the gentleman and appreciate the great leadership of the chairman of the judiciary committee. today we find ourselves in a regrettable circumstance where we must act to remove a federal judge from the bench. the task before us is not one we welcome, but it is an important responsibility that has been entrusted to us by the founders and one which we must not shrink from. we have been fortunate to have a distinguished judiciary that served as an essential and co-equal branch of our government. we owe a great deal to the positive, thoughtful and vita

mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased now to recognize -- does the gentlelady from texas seek to speak next? all right. i'm pleased now to recognize the distinguished member of the judiciary committee, who served on the task force with great skill. and i also want to commend bob goodlatte for his services during that period of time. but sheila jackson lee, from houston, texas has been an anchor in the proceedings that have brought us to this stage. and i yield to her five minutes. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker. i think it is important for all of us to recognize the solemnnyity of this day. i thank the -- sol tim -- so lemonyity of this day. -- solemnnyity of this day. i come from texas, houston, i think it's important to note that the judge, as all people in america may have, has his defenders. he will have an opportunity for those defenders to continue to raise their voice and to continue to emphasize their belief, as my

mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i am pleased to recognize now the gentleman from tennessee, a member of the task force and also the chair of the commercial and administrative law subcommittee, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan will suspend for just a moment. the gentleman from michigan has 4 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. and i want to thank the chairman and the chairman of the task force and the ranking member of the committee and mr. sensenbrenner. this unquestionably has the facts that are obvious for this house to vote on to vote for impeachment. this judge has abused his office and justice by pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, committing obstruction of justice and lying to an official panel. and has taken an action upon his employees in his position, women that is an affront to all women in this country, and these are actions that are worthy of the vote of impeachment. that's u

mr. cummings: i want to thank the gentleman, mr. johnson, for yielding, and chairman conyers, chairman scott torques mr. issa, and the entire judiciary committee and the house leadership for recognizing the importance of this legislation by bringing it to the floor today. mr. speaker, while our soldiers fight in iraq and afghanistan, many citizens across our nation are facing terrorism right here at home and right in their own neighborhoods. people are being murdered in broad daylight and their kill remembers walking free. because we do not protect witnesses to crimes from threats against their safety, if they cooperate with the police f. they testify in court, or even if they are listed as witnesses to testify in court. this epidemic of witness intimidation is a menace to our civil soing and a plague on our entire justice system. in fact, it was the deaths of angela and carnel dawson and their five children, ages 9 to 14, that first motivated me to address this issue. i can remember very vividly sitting at a funeral with two adult caskets and four children. one adult casket and five children and then a

mr. cline is not either. we urge members to consider not questioning mr. conyers, not because he's beyond being questioned, but because the lay witnesses have traveled from far >> mr. conyers has proposed a solution to this problem and argues with great passion it is a solution unlike some in the senate i think belongs on the table for consideration and vigorous and fair consideration. but is the purpose of the hearing. with that i asked my ranking member of the subcommittee mr. klein for his statement. >> good morning. we are here today as the title of this hearing implies to examine a single payer health care and we will hear from chairman conyers and from the panel of experts single payer is certainly among the most controversial approach to health-care reform and frankly mr. chairman i am surprised to see it on the subcommittee agenda. , and democratic leaders have been very clear and public in rejecting the notion of single payer and frankly i am glad that they have procreating a new one size fits all systems based on medicare is a recipe for disaster would balloon the deficit and add to our mounting debt will drive down medical innovation and rationing care

mr. conyers. >> thank you, mr. chairman. since i know the president and attorney general better than anybody in this room would you explain to me why the president is so ambivalent and why the attorney general didn't send anyone to this hearing? >> who is that addressed to? i'm sorry. >> anybody. >> if i could where you stand depends on where you sit. when senator obama -- when president obama was in the senate, when he was campaigning for the presidency, he had a very different position on the state secrets privilege. now that he's in the executive branch and now that he has seen the usefulness and utility of that and the importance he seems to have reached a very different view. i can understand that might be politically inconvenient for him to come and say that but i think there's some evidence that is what has occurred. >> i was afraid he would be the one that would answer my question. >> would the gentleman yield for a moment? mr. grossman indicated some evidence -- are you speculating? >> i'm speculating based on -- >>

mr. issa: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. inds lee -- mr. issa: i -- [newline] mr. issa: this is a pice of bipartisan legislation with chairman conyers, another piece tries to deal with a greater inequity than even this one. internet broadcasters or podcasters or webcasters pay as much as half of their revenues, half of their gross revenues if they pay performances of music and n.a.b. was cited as being a participant. let me make something very clear, mr. speaker. the national association of broadcasters has chosen to have an absolute burn the bridge attitude toward terrestrial broadcasters paying even a cent. i join with chairman conyers, mr. berman, myself and many others in urging that this pattern of lowering to what we believe is a more fair rate or helping lower to what we believe is a more fair rate in fact flies in the face of terrestrial broadcasters continuing to say that the only fair amount to pay in the way of royalties to music producers, actual performers, is zero. the public today, mr. speaker, when they hear this, they hear this, will be shocked to find out that when they listen to terrestrial radio, nothing is paid

mr. conyers for getting this legislation. and mr. cummings has done us all a great favor. nothing is going to help law enforcement more than our trying to help the protection of the witnesses out there who view these crimes. criminal street gangs have been a major concern all across this country and new jersey. law enforcement -- and truly law enforcement cannot do its job if we do not do this legislation. i don't believe, mr. speaker, that there is a more significant thing that we can do and reversing the losing battle that we face at this point and attack street crime and ending modern-day organized crime on the streets. you need viable witnesses who are not left to chance and risk and will not be frightened or intimidated. in 2007 the survey was conducted in new jersey by the state police. the respondents in four new jersey municipalities out of every 10, that's 43%, reported the presence of street gangs in their jurisdiction during the previous 12 months. not only in cities but in suburban communities. as a former mayor, i know how tough it is for our cities and commun

mr. etheridge. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. etheridge: i thank the gentleman for yielding and, mr. speaker, i want to thank my good friend, chairman conyers, the majority leader hoyer for expediting this to the floor today. last tuesday, june 9, the town of garner in my district changed forever. a natural gas leak, as you've heard, ignited a massive explosion at the conagra food plant claws caugs the collapse of the significant portion of the structure. three employees died in the explosion and close to 40 others were injured. four with critical burns. this resolution remembers the lives of barbara mclean spears of dunn, north carolina, louis junior watson and rachel mae poston pulley both of clayton. they were all hardworking americans who did just what we do every day. they got up, they went to work on that faithful day tuesday to make their lives better and to do their part to contribute to america's work force and success of this nation. one of those workers, louis junior watson, was particularly heroic. though he had a means of escape, mr. watson chose to remain in the building to aid his co-worker, barbara mclean spears, who had fal

mr. conyers: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i send to the desk a resolution and ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 565, resolution appointing and authorizing managers for the impeachment of samuel b. kent, a judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the resolution? without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. capuano, mr. defazzo, mr. fattah today after 1:00 p.m., mr. kanjorski of pennsylvania for today after 12:00 noon, mr. shadegg of arizona for today, and mr. welch of vermont after 2:00 p.m. today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the personal requests are granted. does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >>

mr. conyers: mr. speaker, by direction of the committee on the judiciary, i send to the desk a privileged report for filing under the rule to accompany house resolution 537. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 537, resolution requesting that the president and directing that the attorney general transmit to the house of representatives all information in their possession relating to specific communications regarding detainees and foreign persons suspected of terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to discharge the committee on foreign affairs from the further consideration of h.con.res. 89 and proceed to its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: house concurrent resolut