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Floor Statements

Statement on H.R. 1312, the Arts Require Timely Service Act

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1312, the Arts Require Timely Service Act, or the ARTS Act, and I thank Congressman BERMAN and Chairman Conyers for their leadership on this important issue. Under immigration law, foreign artists or groups must obtain a visa in order to perform in America. However, over the last few years, this process has been severely delayed, leading some…

Floor Statement on H.Res. 185, Expressing the Sense of the House Regarding the Creation of Refugee Populations

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I thank the gentleman for yielding.   Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution which I introduced, along with Representatives ROS-LEHTINEN, CROWLEY and FERGUSON. I am proud to stand alongside of them, as well as Chairman Berman and Representative Ackerman, who have been strong leaders on the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab lands, in this historic moment of…

On Eve Of Landmarks Hearing Duane, Nadler, Community Board Two Release Results of St. Vinvent's Redevelopment Survey

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NEW YORK, March 31, 2008 — New York State Senator Tom Duane, Representative Jerry Nadler and Manhattan Community Board 2 (CB2) today released the results of their community survey on St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan and Rudin Development LLC’s proposed new hospital and residential redevelopment on the footprint of the existing St. Vincent’s Hospital in the Greenwich Village Historic…

Floor Statement on H.R. 3733, the FISA Amendments Act

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Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this carefully crafted legislation which gives our intelligence agencies all the tools they say they need to protect our country while protecting our fundamental civil liberties. In the last few weeks, we have heard countless assertions from our colleagues on the other side that are false and misleading. They claim that we allowed the Protect America…

Floor Statement on H.Res. 1041, the Rule on the FISA Amendments Act

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Mr. Speaker, the last few weeks, the last few minutes we have heard assertions from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle that are false and designed to mislead and frighten the American people. They claim that we allowed the Protect America Act to expire, that we are dark for 27 days. Ken Wainstein, the Assistant Attorney General of the United States, and the Bush…

Statement on H.R. 3733, the FISA Amendments Act

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Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3733, the FISA Amendments Act. This carefully crafted legislation gives our intelligence agencies all the tools they need to protect our country, while protecting our fundamental civil liberties. Mr. Speaker, let us be clear about what this legislation does not do. It does not require individual warrants for the targeting of foreign…

Statement on the Introduction of the State Secret Protection Act of 2007

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Madam Speaker, the state secrets privilege is a common law doctrine that allows the Government to protect sensitive national security information from harmful disclosure in litigation. This privilege was first recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1953 case of U.S. v. Reynolds, a case brought by the widows of three civilian engineers against the U.S. Government for negligence…

Floor Statement on Override of the President's Veto of the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY2008

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Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I joined my colleagues in writing to the President urging him to sign this conference report. This conference report contains a provision that mirrors legislation which I authored with Congressman Delahunt, the American Anti-Torture Act, that would ensure a single, uniform baseline standard for all interrogations conducted by the U.S. intelligence community.…

Floor Statement on Contempt Resolutions (H.R. 979 and H.R. 980)

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Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the contempt resolutions. Unfortunately, these resolutions are necessary for Congress to meet its Constitutional obligations and conduct oversight and investigations. We provided many opportunities for the administration to avoid this situation. But here we are. We are here today to consider issuing contempt citations for former White House…

Floor Statement on Protect America Act of 2007 Extention

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Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5349, a 21-day extension of the existing FISA Act to provide Congress the time to work out the differences between the two Houses on this very important matter. It is a question of our Nation's security and it is a question of our Nation's values. We should not be stampeded into action when there is no need. This administration has the…

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