{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2025-01-22-pt1-PgH277", "2025-01-22", 119, 1, null, null, "LAKEN RILEY ACT", "HOUSE", "HOUSE", "ALLOTHER", "H277", "H284", "[{\"name\": \"Tom McClintock\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Jamie Raskin\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Rudy Yakym III\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Adriano Espaillat\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Randy Feenstra\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Maxwell Frost\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Jefferson Van Drew\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Marjorie Taylor Greene\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Delia C. Ramirez\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Robert F. Onder, Jr.\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Rashida Tlaib\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Mike Collins\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Doug LaMalfa\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"5\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"5\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"5\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"HRES\", \"number\": \"53\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"HRES\", \"number\": \"53\"}]", "171 Cong. Rec. H277", "Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 13 (Wednesday, January 22, 2025)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 22, 2025)]\n[House]\n[Pages H277-H284]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                            LAKEN RILEY ACT\n\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 53, I call\nup the bill (S. 5) to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to\ntake into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States\nwith theft, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate\nconsideration in the House.\n  The Clerk read the title of the bill.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 53, the bill is\nconsidered read.\n  The text of the bill is as follows:\n\n                                  S. 5\n\n       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of\n     the United States of America in Congress assembled,\n\n     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.\n\n       This Act may be cited as the ``Laken Riley Act''.\n\n     SEC. 2. DETENTION OF CERTAIN ALIENS WHO COMMIT THEFT.\n\n       Section 236(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8\n     U.S.C. 1226(c)) is amended--\n       (1) in paragraph (1)--\n       (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or'';\n       (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the comma at the end\n     and inserting ``, or''; and\n       (C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:\n       (E)(i) is inadmissible under paragraph (6)(A), (6)(C), or\n     (7) of section 212(a); and\n       ``(ii) is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of,\n     admits having committed, or admits committing acts which\n     constitute the essential elements of any burglary, theft,\n     larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer\n     offense, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily\n     injury to another person,'';\n       (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4); and\n       (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:\n       ``(2) Definition.--For purposes of paragraph (1)(E), the\n     terms `burglary', `theft', `larceny', `shoplifting', `assault\n     of a law enforcement officer', and `serious bodily injury'\n     have the meanings given such terms in the jurisdiction in\n     which the acts occurred.''\n       ``(3) Detainer.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall\n     issue a detainer for an alien described in paragraph (1)(E)\n     and, if the alien is not otherwise detained by Federal,\n     State, or local officials, shall effectively and\n     expeditiously take custody of the alien.''.\n\n     SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF A STATE.\n\n       (a) Inspection of Applicants for Admission.--Section 235(b)\n     of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)) is\n     amended--\n       (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and\n       (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:\n       ``(3) Enforcement by attorney general of a state.--The\n     attorney general of a State, or other authorized State\n     officer, alleging a violation of the detention and removal\n     requirements under paragraph (1) or (2) that harms such State\n     or its residents shall have standing to bring an action\n     against the Secretary of Homeland Security on behalf of such\n     State or the residents of such State in an appropriate\n     district court of the United States to obtain appropriate\n     injunctive relief. The court shall advance on the docket and\n     expedite the disposition of a civil action filed under this\n     paragraph to the greatest extent practicable. For purposes of\n     this paragraph, a State or its residents shall be considered\n     to have been harmed if the State or its residents experience\n     harm, including financial harm in excess of $100.''.\n       (b) Apprehension and Detention of Aliens.--Section 236 of\n     the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226), as\n     amended by this Act, is further amended--\n       (1) in subsection (e)--\n       (A) by striking ``or release''; and\n       (B) by striking ``grant, revocation, or denial'' and insert\n     ``revocation or denial''; and\n       (2) by adding at the end the following:\n       ``(f) Enforcement by Attorney General of a State.--The\n     attorney general of a State, or other authorized State\n     officer, alleging an action or decision by the Attorney\n     General or Secretary of Homeland Security under this section\n     to release any alien or grant bond or parole to any alien\n     that harms such State or its residents shall have standing to\n     bring an action against the Attorney General or Secretary of\n     Homeland Security\n\n[[Page H278]]\n\n     on behalf of such State or the residents of such State in an\n     appropriate district court of the United States to obtain\n     appropriate injunctive relief. The court shall advance on the\n     docket and expedite the disposition of a civil action filed\n     under this subsection to the greatest extent practicable. For\n     purposes of this subsection, a State or its residents shall\n     be considered to have been harmed if the State or its\n     residents experience harm, including financial harm in excess\n     of $100.''.\n       (c) Penalties.--Section 243 of the Immigration and\n     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253) is amended by adding at the\n     end the following:\n       ``(e) Enforcement by Attorney General of a State.--The\n     attorney general of a State, or other authorized State\n     officer, alleging a violation of the requirement to\n     discontinue granting visas to citizens, subjects, nationals,\n     and residents as described in subsection (d) that harms such\n     State or its residents shall have standing to bring an action\n     against the Secretary of State on behalf of such State or the\n     residents of such State in an appropriate district court of\n     the United States to obtain appropriate injunctive relief.\n     The court shall advance on the docket and expedite the\n     disposition of a civil action filed under this subsection to\n     the greatest extent practicable. For purposes of this\n     subsection, a State or its residents shall be considered to\n     have been harmed if the State or its residents experience\n     harm, including financial harm in excess of $100.''.\n       (d) Certain Classes of Aliens.--Section 212(d)(5) of the\n     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) is\n     amended--\n       (1) by striking ``Attorney General'' each place such term\n     appears and inserting ``Secretary of Homeland Security''; and\n       (2) by adding at the end the following:\n       ``(C) The attorney general of a State, or other authorized\n     State officer, alleging a violation of the limitation under\n     subparagraph (A) that parole solely be granted on a case-by-\n     case basis and solely for urgent humanitarian reasons or a\n     significant public benefit, that harms such State or its\n     residents shall have standing to bring an action against the\n     Secretary of Homeland Security on behalf of such State or the\n     residents of such State in an appropriate district court of\n     the United States to obtain appropriate injunctive relief.\n     The court shall advance on the docket and expedite the\n     disposition of a civil action filed under this subparagraph\n     to the greatest extent practicable. For purposes of this\n     subparagraph, a State or its residents shall be considered to\n     have been harmed if the State or its residents experience\n     harm, including financial harm in excess of $100.''.\n       (e) Detention.--Section 241(a)(2) of the Immigration and\n     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(a)(2)) is amended--\n       (1) by striking ``During the removal period,'' and\n     inserting the following:\n       ``(A) In general.--During the removal period,''; and\n       (2) by adding at the end the following:\n       ``(B) Enforcement by attorney general of a state.--The\n     attorney general of a State, or other authorized State\n     officer, alleging a violation of the detention requirement\n     under subparagraph (A) that harms such State or its residents\n     shall have standing to bring an action against the Secretary\n     of Homeland Security on behalf of such State or the residents\n     of such State in an appropriate district court of the United\n     States to obtain appropriate injunctive relief. The court\n     shall advance on the docket and expedite the disposition of a\n     civil action filed under this subparagraph to the greatest\n     extent practicable. For purposes of this subparagraph, a\n     State or its residents shall be considered to have been\n     harmed if the State or its residents experience harm,\n     including financial harm in excess of $100.''.\n       (f) Limit on Injunctive Relief.--Section 242(f) of the\n     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1252(f)) is amended\n     by adding at the end following:\n       ``(3) Certain actions.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an\n     action brought pursuant to section 235(b)(3), subsections (e)\n     or (f) of section 236, or section 241(a)(2)(B).''.\n\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour,\nequally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member\nof the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees.\n  The gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) and the gentleman from\nMaryland (Mr. Raskin) each will control 30 minutes.\n  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).\n\n                             General Leave\n\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members\nmay have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks\nand include extraneous material on S. 5.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the\ngentleman from California?\n  There was no objection.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may\nconsume.\n  Mr. Speaker, S. 5 bears the name of Laken Riley, murdered by one of\nthe 8 million illegal aliens that Joe Biden and his Democratic\nsupporters deliberately allowed into our country over these last 4\nyears.\n  In Laken's case, the murderer was paroled into this country through a\nshocking abuse of that power. He was repeatedly arrested for theft and\nother crimes in sanctuary jurisdictions and each time released back\nonto our streets. Just months before he murdered Laken, he was arrested\nfor theft, but ICE couldn't take him into custody because of the Biden-\nHarris administration's policies that shielded such monsters from\narrest and deportation.\n  This measure, first introduced by Representative  Mike Collins, would\nrequire ICE detention for illegal aliens who are charged with, arrested\nfor, or convicted of any burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting\noffense.\n  The Democrats have argued that the mere accusation of committing a\ncrime should not be grounds for detention and that shoplifting is no\nbig deal. They ignore the fact that every illegal alien is currently\nrequired to be detained by current law throughout the pendency of their\nasylum claims.\n  The Democrats have thumbed their noses at this law for the past 4\nyears. Their excuse is that they were prioritizing detaining more\ndangerous offenders. This bill does exactly that, yet they still oppose\nit.\n\n                              {time}  1415\n\n  During his first term, President Trump proved that the President, on\nhis own authority, can secure our borders. President Biden proved that\na President who is determined to make a mockery of our immigration laws\ncan willfully open our borders to the most violent criminals,\nterrorists, gangs, and cartels on this planet and then use the\nDemocrats' sanctuary laws to protect them.\n  This national nightmare ended at noon on Monday, but what of future\nPresidents? This bill ensures that what happened to Laken Riley cannot\nhappen again should another Joe Biden disgrace the Presidency.\n  Our Senate colleagues have added to the Laken Riley Act parts of\nSarah's Law, introduced by Representative Randy Feenstra and Senator\nJoni Ernst, to mandate detention for illegal aliens who commit any\noffense that involves death or serious bodily injury.\n  Sarah's Law was named after Sarah Root. On January 31, 2016, as Sarah\ndrove home after celebrating her college graduation, an illegal alien,\nwho was street racing while drunk, slammed into her SUV, snapping\nSarah's spine and fracturing her skull. Sarah died 4 days later, on\nFebruary 4.\n  Within hours of her death, a judge set the illegal's bond at $50,000\nbecause no detainer was filed despite a desperate request by local\npolice to do so.\n  The administration defended this dereliction of duty because the\nillegal alien had not been convicted of a criminal charge and,\ntherefore, was not an ``enforcement priority.''\n  S. 5 closes this loophole by requiring detention for illegal aliens,\nlike Sarah Root's killer, who are arrested for, charged with, admitted\nto, or convicted of any crime that resulted in someone's death or\nserious bodily injury.\n  In addition, this bill includes elements of Representative Jeff Van\nDrew's Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act, which\npassed the House last year and applies the same mandate for those who\nassault law enforcement officials.\n  This bill would also allow States to bring a civil action against\nderelict Federal officers who refuse to enforce immigration law. This\nwas first introduced by Representatives Dan Bishop and Chip Roy in the\nSUE for Immigration Enforcement Act. That bill also passed the House\ntwice as part of the Laken Riley Act. That bill was also killed by\nSenate Democrats last year.\n  Whether it is sober reflection or perhaps the sobering results of the\nNovember election, a handful of Democrats in both the House and the\nSenate have now come over to support this law. We welcome them. We wish\nthem well in convincing the majority of their party that they need to\nchange course, if not for the good of our country, then at least for\nthe good of themselves. We will take their support any way we can get\nit.\n  I have every confidence that President Trump will end this scourge\nupon our Nation during the next 4 years. This law, and the others that\nwill follow it, will ensure that no future President will be able to\nunleash upon our country what Joe Biden and his Democratic supporters\ndid.\n\n[[Page H279]]\n\n  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve\nthe balance of my time.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.\n  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to S. 5.\n  We have all these fine speeches and all these fancy parties with\nbillionaires and Congressmen in tuxedos; all these executive orders for\nBig Oil and tech broligarchs; all these complete and unconditional\npardons for Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and violent extremists who\nchanted ``Hang Mike Pence'' and smashed, swarmed, and wounded our\npolice officers in this building with steel poles, baseball bats,\nAmerican flags, Confederate battle flags, and bear mace--all this sound\nand fury on day one and week one, but nothing to bring down grocery\nprices; nothing to bring down the cost of rent, as they promised;\nnothing to improve our healthcare system or build on our success in the\nlast Congress in reducing prescription drug prices; nothing to get\nhealth insurance coverage for millions of people who don't have it;\nnothing to bring down the cost of housing or build new housing; nothing\nto combat the nightmare of climate change, other than the full-scale\nretreat of withdrawing from the Paris climate accord; nothing to\naddress the real problems faced by the American people.\n  Today, they want to change the subject from the indelible and\nshocking public safety disaster of the President releasing hundreds of\nconvicted felons, specifically violent, cop-beating felons caught on\ntape in the act, whom he had incited on January 6, 2021, back into the\npopulation with no plan for protecting the American people or the\npublic safety.\n  What do they want to talk about today in their wisdom? Public safety\nand immigration. Great. Let's do it.\n  This bill does nothing to address the major problems we face in the\nimmigration system or to secure the American border, nor does it do\nanything to address the major problems we face in public safety, such\nas the central and overriding problem of out-of-control gun violence,\nwhich takes tens of thousands of American citizens' lives every year\nand is the leading cause of death among American citizen children up to\nthe age of 18.\n  Mr. Speaker, it may surprise a lot of Americans, but we actually know\nhow to solve these problems, how to make substantial progress on both\nimmigration and public safety. The roadblock is that the majority\ncompletely lacks the political will to do it.\n  Why? Well, the Republicans are divided between two extreme positions:\nthe big business tech oligarchs who bankroll their party and who love\ncheap foreign labor under the current regime, and the inflamed,\nnativist, MAGA element who want to shut down all immigration, including\nlegal immigration, and believe in rightwing conspiracy theories like\nthe racist great replacement theory.\n  Congress could pass bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform this\nweek. Senate Republicans and Democrats reached a powerful and\npainstaking compromise with President Biden last year to fortify our\nborder with more border agents and more enforcement, more detection\ntechnology, more asylum judges, and more funding, but President Trump\ntold House Republicans to tank this popular bipartisan agreement, to\nsink it.\n\n  He didn't want a bipartisan border solution to improve things in the\nreal world. He wanted a permanent border crisis to run against on TV.\n  Not doing anything means that Trump doesn't offend his big business\nsupporters who want cheap foreign labor under the current regime, but\nit allows him to pander indefinitely to his MAGA base with nativist\nrhetoric and tiny, little messaging bills that move a few words around\nbut don't fundamentally change anything.\n  We should add to the tough border measures already negotiated last\nCongress a meaningful pathway to citizenship proposed for Dreamers, TPS\nholders, and other law-abiding, productive immigrants.\n  If we move from demagoguery to deliberation, we can flesh this out,\nand we can make immigration work for America, a nation built on\nimmigrants.\n  We have huge job shortages in agriculture, manufacturing, retail,\nseafood, nursing, hospitals, and many other areas. We should not be\nplunging America into chaos to deport millions of people when we\nalready need millions of new people to work here.\n  If the GOP plan of deporting 12 million people were really to happen,\nit would plunge us into another Trump economic crisis like the last one\nunder COVID-19 but maybe even cause a depression this time.\n  The vast majority of Americans know what common sense dictates. We\nmust make it a lot harder for people to get into our country illegally,\nbut we must make it a lot easier for people to get into our country\nlawfully.\n  Today, only 2 percent of people seeking admission lawfully are\nadmitted, and Donald Trump, in his first administration, crippled legal\nimmigration into the country. He banned many legal immigrants unable to\nprove that they have high incomes. He banned immigrants from 13\nspecific countries. He banned most visa applicants and most skilled\ntemporary workers, deeming them an economic threat. We must reform our\nsystem consistent with our values as a nation.\n  Similarly, when it comes to public safety, we could arrive at a\ncommonsense, bipartisan agenda right now to make our communities a lot\nsafer if we were serious about it.\n  Let's take the central problem of gun violence, for example, which\nnow takes more than 48,000 American lives a year and is the leading\ncause of death for children and young people in America up to the age\nof 18.\n  Gun violence costs us, costs America, an astonishing $557 billion a\nyear, Mr. Speaker, more than half a trillion dollars a year because of\ngun violence.\n  Mass shootings with an AR-15 or other assault weapons have become a\nterrifying feature of gun violence in America, although they account\nfor just over 1 percent of the tens of thousands of lives we lose\ngenerally to gun violence, with old-fashioned handgun homicides,\nsuicides, and accidents continuing to cause the vast majority of\ndeaths.\n  Here are some policies that the vast majority of Americans support\nthat we could pass this week if they would allow us to do it, Mr.\nSpeaker.\n  Congress could close the loopholes in the Brady legislation, like the\ninternet loophole and the private gun show loophole. We could pass\nuniversal violent criminal background checks on all gun purchases,\nsomething supported by upward of 90 percent of the American people,\nvast majorities of people of both political parties, independents,\nconservatives, liberals, gun owners, and non-gun owners. Almost\neverybody supports it.\n  We could pass a military-style assault weapons ban, which more than\n60 percent of Americans support. We could crack down on the\nproliferating danger of ghost guns. We could expand red flag laws\nnationwide.\n  Alas, our colleagues refuse to do any of it because their well-\nadvertised compassion for the American victims of violent crimes\ncommitted by undocumented aliens, which they base their entire argument\non and which we all share, apparently does not extend to the far larger\nclass of American victims of violent gun crimes committed by other\nAmerican citizens, even though we have not just 48,000 Americans killed\nevery year but 115,000 American citizens wounded and maimed trying to\nsurvive this gun violence debacle handed to us by the NRA and their\nfollowers in Congress.\n  They argue that the Second Amendment prevents all these commonsense\ngun safety measures, even though the Supreme Court has repeatedly\nupheld them, including an assault weapon ban, criminal background\nchecks on gun buyers, and so on.\n  When a white supremacist gunman bearing an AR-15 assassinates dozens\nof American citizen schoolchildren in Connecticut or Florida, dozens of\ncitizen and noncitizen Walmart shoppers in El Paso, Texas, supermarket\nshoppers in Buffalo, worshippers at the Mother Emanuel Church in\nCharleston, South Carolina, or worshippers at the Tree of Life\nsynagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, our colleagues extend only\nthoughts and prayers. They say nothing can be done. Alas, there is just\nevil in the world, and the Second Amendment keeps them from acting. We\njust have to accept this as the inescapable human price and sacrifice\npaid for the Second Amendment, even though that is not what the Supreme\nCourt says.\n\n[[Page H280]]\n\n  At least today shows they think something can be done to stop violent\ncrime in America. Will they take their newfound sense of moral outrage\nand compassion and apply it not just in one case but to the tens of\nthousands of victims of gun violence in America? America is waiting for\nan answer.\n  What is the majority proposing today? S. 5 is a bill to subject to\nmandatory detention not just undocumented people who have been\nconvicted of theft, shoplifting, and other criminal offenses, which has\nbeen the law supported unanimously by both parties since 1996, but\npeople who have been simply charged with such offenses or arrested for\nsuch offenses, even if the charges are dropped or even if they are\nnever filed in the first place.\n  It is an odd way to fix the border because it has nothing to do with\nthe border, and it is an extremely attenuated and constitutionally\ndubious way to protect public safety.\n  The vast majority of serious crimes committed in America are\ncommitted by American citizens, not aliens, and the vast majority of\naliens don't commit crimes at all.\n\n                              {time}  1430\n\n  However, this bill doesn't even focus on the culpable class of\nundocumented immigrants who commit crimes. That the law already does.\nIt focuses on those who are arrested even if they are never charged or\nthose who are charged with crimes even if they are never convicted or\neven if their charges are dropped.\n  A young person in DACA who is with a group of friends when one of\nthem is arrested for shoplifting and then all the kids get charged will\nbe subject to mandatory detention and deportation even if the child was\nnot shoplifting and the charges are dropped.\n  The bill is likely to pass, no doubt, because of the profound\nsympathy we all share for the parents and family of Laken Riley who\nhave suffered an unthinkable, totally shocking, and profoundly\nunnecessary trauma. This should not be a partisan issue, and it should\nnot be demagogued for partisan purposes.\n  Nevertheless, when we get serious about comprehensive threats to\npublic safety in our immigration system, we will have to address the\nmass crises staring us in the face, like the gun violence epidemic,\nwhich takes the lives of tens of thousands of American citizens every\nyear at the hands overwhelmingly of U.S. citizen gunmen.\n  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, the so-called bipartisan legislation\nthat the gentleman refers to would have made it impossible for\nPresident Trump to have taken the actions he has just taken to secure\nour border until illegal immigration exceeded 4,000 entries a day. That\nis why it collapsed in the Senate and it was ultimately disavowed by\nits own author.\n  The gentleman is correct to lament the terrible violence in our\nNation, especially in our dangerous Democratic cities. So here is a\nmodest proposal: Take the criminals off the streets, like Laken Riley's\nkiller, which is exactly what this bill does.\n  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr.\nYakym).\n  Mr. YAKYM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Laken\nRiley Act.\n  The Biden-Harris administration was marked by failure and corruption,\nbut the failure that sits head and shoulders above all others was their\nopen-border policy. Almost immediately after President Biden was sworn\nin, America was overrun by a massive, unprecedented surge in illegal\nimmigrants.\n  The chart next to me shows just how dramatically President Biden\nfailed compared to his predecessors, over double the southern border\ncrossings of any President since 2001. This border chaos was ignored\nfor all 4 years of the Biden-Harris administration. It was downplayed\nas seasonal or written off as mere ebbs and flows.\n  Mr. Speaker, find me somewhere on this chart where the surge was only\nseasonal. Show me where it ebbed or flowed.\n  Illegal immigrants continued streaming across President Biden's open\nborder in droves because they knew they would face no consequences from\nan administration that was more focused on inventing new rhetorical\nflourishes to paper over this very real crisis. They were more content\nto wish it away rather than actually do something about it.\n  President Biden's failure at the border had impacts across America.\nEvery town was a border town. Once sleepy places were suddenly forced\nto contend with sex trafficking, drug trafficking, child labor,\ninfectious diseases, petty theft, and, yes, even rape and murder.\n  Cartels got rich, and small towns in my district were left scrambling\nfor money and resources. This chaos was a choice made every single day\nof Joe Biden's Presidency.\n  No more, Mr. Speaker. Monday marked a new era. President Trump has\nalready taken more decisive action in 48 hours than President Biden\ntook in 4 years.\n  Mr. Speaker, let's send this bill to President Trump's desk. I urge\nmy colleagues to vote for sanity and common sense. I urge them to vote\n``yes.''\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished\ngentleman from New York (Mr. Espaillat).\n  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to S. 5. I rise in\nopposition to S. 5 because the bill is redundant. In fact, the\nprovisions in this bill to penalize those who have committed violent\ncrimes are already included in the penal code. So this legislation is\nredundant.\n  What it does do, in fact, is it would force ICE to treat minor\noffenses as violent ones. That includes, of course, a child caught\nstealing a candy bar from Walmart, someone who jumps the turnstile in a\nNew York City subway or takes a box of cornflakes because they\notherwise have no way to make ends meet.\n  It also sends a chilling effect out there amongst law-abiding\nfamilies and workers who are too frightened to show up to their shifts\nat farms, hospitals, businesses, and schools across the country.\n  Mr. Speaker, this bill is redundant, and, frankly, the Laken Riley\nfamily should not be subject to the political theater that is about to\nhappen here today.\n  In fact, we should be looking at this issue to fix the problems of\nboth the border, but also to regularize Dreamers, farmworkers, and keep\nfamilies whole. At the end of the day, Dreamers are productive. They\ncontribute to our society. Farmers need their workers, and we need\ntheir workers. Families need to stay together because families that are\ndivided are weak families, and that makes a weak nation.\n  So this is a redundant bill.\n  While they are targeting the immigrant communities for stealing a\ncandy bar, the folks from January 6, get this, Mr. Speaker, were\nreleased. Felons were released and sent out to our communities.\n  Today, I think of Officer Daniel Hodge whose gas mask was ripped off\nhis face as he was punched in the face and was stuck in between two\ndoors. America saw the film. America saw the video of him crying for\nhelp.\n  Today, we will continue to fight for sanity and against any political\ntheater that happens here on our floor.\n\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from\nIowa (Mr. Feenstra), who is the author of Sarah's Law that is\nincorporated into this bill.\n  Mr. FEENSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the\nLaken Riley Act which includes my bill, Sarah's Law, as an amendment.\n  In the early morning hours of January 31, 2016, Michelle and Scott\nRoot received the call that every parent never wants to hear: their\ndaughter, Sarah, had been killed in a car accident. What is worse is\nthat Sarah was murdered by an illegal immigrant who was driving while\ndrunk three times over the legal limit.\n  However, instead of answering for his crimes, the illegal immigrant\nposted bail, was released from jail, and fled our country never to be\nseen again.\n  This egregious loophole in Federal law must be closed so that victims\nlike Sarah Root can receive justice and so that criminals can do the\nhard time they deserve.\n  That is why I, alongside Senator Joni Ernst, introduced Sarah's Law\nto ensure that any illegal immigrant who injures or kills an American\ncitizen is swiftly detained and punished to the fullest extent of the\nlaw. As a father of\n\n[[Page H281]]\n\nfour, I can't fathom the pain the Root family feels to this day. It is\ntruly heartbreaking.\n  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to\ndeliver justice for Sarah and her family. I look forward to President\nTrump signing this bill into law so that illegal immigrants who break\nour laws are held accountable for their crimes. This must be done.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished\ngentleman from Florida (Mr. Frost).\n  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I oppose this bill for many reasons, but I\nreally want to get to the heart of the problem for me. On day one,\nPresident Trump started his project to deport thousands of our\nneighbors, even legal immigrants, asylum seekers, and people who were\nborn here in the United States. The Laken Riley Act is another piece of\nthat tragic project.\n  Laken Riley's death is a tragedy. She should be alive today, and I am\nglad that that killer is facing accountability, as should anyone who\nharms an innocent person.\n  However, we have to be really clear about the bill in front of us.\nThis bill does not make our communities safer. It gives this extreme\nPresident the authority to do something that actually most Americans\ndon't agree with. Changing our laws so that any immigrant is detained\nif they are accused, not convicted, of a crime undermines due process.\n  This bill requires the government to detain people who pose no risk\nto our communities. It is a shameful bill that will result in the\nviolent detention of innocent people and children.\n  Many are going to regret enabling Trump's brutal agenda, and the\nquestion is when.\n  When abusive boyfriends trap women in violent relationships by\nthreatening to falsely accuse them of a crime, will you think back to\nthis day?\n  When ICE raids kids' classrooms or goes into the Sunday school\nservice to lock up some classmates, will you feel shame then?\n  When there are no more resources because we have been prioritizing\nlooking at promising young DACA students and rounding them up for no\nreason, will you regret voting for this bill then?\n  Our country has failed to ensure that every American has the\nresources they need to live a good life. It is because of the greedy\nand richest 1 percent of corporations and spineless politicians that\nyou don't have healthcare, that you need multiple jobs, that your check\nisn't big enough for those bills, and that you can't afford to rent or\nto buy.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Meuser). The time of the gentleman has\nexpired.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the\ngentleman from Florida.\n  Mr. FROST. It is not the fault of our fellow Americans who might be\nundocumented. The solution here is not violence. On its face, this is\nan evil bill meant to empower a violent man who is not interested in\nsolving the problems of working people but interested in power. It\nseems that any bill that gives him power he and his party will\nruthlessly pursue, but not I.\n  Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this bill.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from\nengaging in personalities toward the President.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I remind the gentleman that current law\nalready requires every illegal immigrant to be detained. That law is\nsimply not being enforced. This bill says that if that illegal alien\nwho is supposed to be in custody anyway is arrested for other crimes,\nthen they really have to be taken off the streets.\n  If this bill had been law, then Laken Riley would be alive today.\n  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.\nVan Drew).\n  Mr. VAN DREW. Mr. Speaker, these are not prepared notes, but I wanted\nto address a few of the things that the ranking member, Congressman\nRaskin, mentioned. It seems to me that from what I hear on the other\nside is everything but really dealing with and focusing on what this\nbill says and what it does.\n  I want to talk about inflation which, by the way, was created on that\nother side, food prices and energy and utilities, all of it. I want to\ntalk about all that.\n  I want to talk about gun violence. I am willing to debate gun\nviolence for hours and discuss the issue, but definitely even on that\nissue, we don't want to speak about the liberal policies that exist in\nso many urban areas where we let out violent criminals over and over\nand over again and change very often felonies to misdemeanors.\n  Mr. Speaker, if you want to know about gun violence, that is what gun\nviolence does. That is what gun violence is created by, so much that is\nhappening there. Their answer would be to put more gun laws in place\nthat inflict more regulation upon honest, good gun owners who don't\never do anything to anybody. It would be to impinge on Second Amendment\nrights. Nevertheless, I don't want to talk about that.\n  I want to talk about this act because I know we are on the right side\nof this. Laken Riley was killed while going for a jog. That is the\nissue. An innocent woman who never did anything harmful to anybody in\nher life, who wanted to be a nurse, who wanted to help other people,\nand who couldn't even get the last damn telephone call from her mother,\nwas murdered.\n  Then I hear from the ranking member: Well, the vast majority of\nillegals don't commit crimes.\n  My God, I hope not, because we have got close to 10 million of them,\nas best as we can tell. There are hundreds who are on the terror watch\nlist and thousands who have committed crimes. That is where the\nproblems really do exist, and that is unacceptable.\n  The previous administration has recklessly abused the mass parole\npolicies. It has flooded our Nation with illegal immigrants. It never\nshould have happened, and it impinges and hurts the security of the\nAmerican people. I am here to represent, and we are here to represent\nthe American people.\n\n                              {time}  1445\n\n  Across the country, we heard about the woman that was set on fire in\nNew York City. What was the first thing that the city of New York did\nwith its liberal policies? They refused to honor ICE's detainer request\nfor the man responsible for setting another human being on fire.\n  Our immigration laws have to be upheld. Failure to do so is why Laken\nRiley is not alive today. It is why Washington State Trooper\nChristopher Gadd's family will never see him. His children and his wife\nwill never know him anymore. He is gone.\n  It is why, when Laken Riley struggled for almost a half hour, when\nshe was beaten, when she was disfigured, when her head and skull was\ncrushed, that we can't bring her back. We can't bring her life back.\n  I don't want to hear about all this other political stuff. I don't\nthink the American people do. They want an answer.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the\ngentleman from New Jersey.\n  Mr. VAN DREW. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that the Senate\nadopted the amendment that we wanted, which was to put into the bill\nthe legislation that we had to detain and deport illegal aliens who\nassault cops. They have broken the law once, and now we are saying: My\nGod, if you do it again, no, you are going to be detained, and you are\ngoing to be deported. A lot of Democrats are going to vote for it.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from\nNew York (Ms. Ocasio-Cortez).\n  Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.\n  Mr. Speaker, I want the American people to know, with eyes wide open,\nwhat is inside this bill. We stand here just 2 days after President\nTrump gave unconditional pardons to violent criminals who attacked our\nNation's Capitol on January 6, and these are the people who want us to\nbelieve that they are trying to keep criminals off the streets, when\nthey are opening the floodgates.\n  I want the American people to know what is in this bill because, in\nthe guise and in the wake of tragedy, we are seeing a fundamental\nerosion of our civil rights in this bill. If a person is so much as\naccused of a crime or if someone wants to point a finger and accuse\n\n[[Page H282]]\n\nsomeone of shoplifting, they will be rounded up and put into a private\ndetention camp and sent out for deportation without a day in court,\nwithout a moment to assert their rights, and without a moment to assert\nthe privilege of innocence until proven guilty.\n  Without being found guilty of a crime, they will be rounded up. What\nis inside this bill is a fundamental suspension of a core American\nvalue, and that is why I rise to oppose it.\n  If you are a Dreamer, all someone has to do is point a finger, and\nyou will be rounded up. We have seen moments like these happen before\nin the USA PATRIOT Act, in the wake of the travesty of 9/11, a\nfundamental suspension of America's civil liberties, that is what we\nare seeing here today.\n  Mr. Speaker, my colleagues may wonder why so many of our friends\nacross the aisle, who care so deeply about the rule of law, happen to\nbe so desperate to pass this bill after they are unleashing people who\nattacked police officers here in this Capitol and who are now free to\nroam our streets, who are publicly saying now that they want to get a\ngun. Suddenly, these folks care about public safety? I don't think so.\n  Look no further than the $83 billion price tag of this bill. They\nknow that it can't be paid for. They know that the capacity is not\nthere.\n  Do you know what will be there? Private prison companies are going to\nget flooded with money, who give this money, no doubt. I want folks at\nhome to look at which Members of Congress are invested in private\nprison companies, who receive this kind of money, and look at the votes\non this bill.\n  It is atrocious that people are lining their pockets with private\nprison profits in the name of a horrific tragedy on the victim of a\ncrime. It is shameful. It is absolutely shameful.\n  Mr. Speaker, I will conclude with this: In a few months, there are\nMembers of Congress who voted for this bill who are going to pretend\nthat they didn't know about all the bad things that are going to happen\nbecause of it.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the\ngentlewoman from New York.\n  Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, when a private prison camp opens in\nyour town and they say they didn't know this was going to happen, know\nthat they did and that they voted for it.\n  When a Dreamer has disappeared from your classroom and when the\nPresident of the United States destroys what is left of the\nConstitution as he has announced in his attack on birthright\ncitizenship, they will all say: We didn't know this was coming.\n  I want the American people to know that they did. This vote\nrepresents it.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman\nfrom Georgia (Ms. Greene).\n  Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I certainly hope we do open as\nmany prisons as possible to round up as many illegal aliens who have\ninvaded our country and those who are breaking our laws; killing our\ncitizens, women and children; and causing complete havoc across our\ngreat land.\n  Mr. Speaker, I support the Laken Riley Act. I support the Laken Riley\nAct because Laken Riley should be alive today, and she would be alive\ntoday if it hadn't been for the Democrats and the Biden administration\nwho ripped our border open and allowed this illegal alien monster to\ncome into our country.\n  Then, in the State of New York, when this monster was arrested for\ncommitting crimes, the Democrat-led State of New York let him go. That\nis how he came down to Georgia and murdered our Laken Riley.\n\n  This is a bill that cannot get passed soon enough, and I am so\nthankful that the American people overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump\nso that we can sign this bill into law. It can't happen fast enough.\nThank God.\n  Listening to my colleagues, the Democrats on the other side of the\naisle, complain and whine and defend illegal aliens who break the law\nthe minute they cross our border is pathetic. The American people are\nso sick and tired of it. They cannot believe what our country has gone\nthrough. It is enough. It is absolutely enough.\n  Democrats will go on and on to defend anyone who is not American\nbecause of their America-last policies. My colleagues on the other side\nof the aisle talk about tax dollars used. Our tax dollars should be\nused for defending Americans.\n  Members want to talk about spending a lot of money? Spending a lot of\nmoney should happen for American causes, American purposes, and\nAmericans' security.\n  Laken Riley is a young woman who should be living her American Dream,\nand she had the right to do it. People who come across our border\nillegally are not Americans, and they do not have rights here.\n  That is exactly why, anytime they break a law and anytime they cross\ninto our country, they should be rounded up and shipped out as fast as\npossible. If we need to build more prisons, then we will do it because\nthe American people will support it.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from\nIllinois (Mrs. Ramirez).\n  Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressman for yielding me\ntime.\n  Mr. Speaker, it is hard to keep myself composed when I hear people\nspeak their hypocrisies that actually generate profits for them when\nthey talk the way they do and then also use the word ``God'' somehow in\ntheir speech.\n  Let me say this: We cannot realize justice by engaging in grave\ninjustice. We cannot achieve safety by putting millions in harm's way.\nWe cannot honor our ideals that we talk so much about in this place by\nundermining civil rights.\n  Preemptively jailing people is not accountability. It is inhumanity.\nMandatory, indefinite detention based not on charges or convictions,\nbut on accusations, that is the tool of dictators, not democracies.\n  Let me be clear that Laken Riley's death is a tragedy, and we have\nwork to do to protect women and make our communities safer. We should\nbe bringing bills like Break the Cycle of Violence Act to the floor. We\ncould perhaps have a discharge petition and do it right now.\n  Let's remember that undocumented immigrants didn't make college\nunaffordable. They didn't destroy our environment. They didn't deny\ninsurance claims. They didn't raise our rents.\n  Scapegoating immigrants just deflects the accountability from the\ncorporations and from the billionaires and bosses profiting from\neveryday American hardships. That is what this is all about. It is\nabout ending due process so that they can profit.\n  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``no.''\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from\nMissouri (Mr. Onder).\n  Mr. ONDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 5, the Laken\nRiley Act.\n  First, I point out that my Democratic colleagues are all exercised\nabout the pardons of Donald Trump of January 6 protesters, but they\nsaid not a word when President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 cold-\nblooded murderers on death row in our Federal prisons.\n  This bill is the Senate amended version of Representative Collins'\nbill that passed this Chamber earlier this month. It is named after\nLaken Riley, the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was brutally\nmurdered by a criminal illegal alien, another casualty of the Biden-\nHarris, Democratic, open-border policies.\n  This bill adds burglary, theft, and larceny to a list of crimes for\nwhich it would be mandatory that illegal alien criminals be deported.\nThe Senate also added to this act a very important provision that adds\nassault of a law enforcement officer or causing bodily injury to\nanother person.\n  The Laken Riley Act, when signed by President Trump, will begin the\nlong and hard work of protecting Americans from the more than 10\nmillion illegal aliens who were enabled by Biden's open-border\npolicies.\n  On January 7, I was very encouraged to see 48 of our Democratic\ncolleagues in this Chamber vote for the commonsense protections that\nAmericans support in the Laken Riley Act. Yesterday, 12 Senate\nDemocrats joined all the Republicans in supporting this commonsense\nmeasure.\n  Mr. Speaker, deporting criminal illegal aliens should not be a\npartisan bill.\n\n[[Page H283]]\n\nI hope our Democratic colleagues will side with us on this issue to\nprotect Americans and put Americans first.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from\nMichigan (Ms. Tlaib).\n  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.\n  Mr. Speaker, I think it is so shameful that the first bill of the new\nCongress will put a target on the backs of millions of our neighbors.\nThese are neighbors who worked so hard and who build up our\ncommunities. It is also going to increase militarization of our\nneighborhoods.\n  As someone who grew up in southwest Detroit, where you will find 20\ndifferent ethnicities, people from all over the world, who came\ntogether, you should see how beautifully diverse it is. They built up\ncommunities and neighborhoods. They are an integral part of our\nneighborhoods.\n  One of the things that I have been seeing over and over again on\nsocial media already, Mr. Speaker, is literally militarization of\nBorder Patrol, officials everywhere, just people scared and petrified\nbecause that is what is exactly happening because this promotes racial\nprofiling.\n  The bill blatantly violates due process. These have literally been\nallegations and charges, not actual convictions. You all act like if\nsomebody is undocumented they can't be deported. They can. As a former\nimmigration attorney, I know that for a fact.\n\n  You are making this up so you can literally allow people to be\nprofiled and discriminated against.\n  Blame them for the cost of eggs? Is that what we are doing here? We\nare blaming them because you guys can't put corporate greed to the\nside? That is a disease, and that is killing our economy. People can't\nafford housing. You think it is because of our immigrant neighbors?\n  No. If you truly care about fixing our immigration system, you would\ngo fix it so that U.S. citizens married to undocumented spouses can\nactually adjust their status when we have mixed statuses because we\nhave ignored and vilified immigrants for 30 years.\n  Enough is enough.\n  It will separate families. It would lead again to continued\ndiscrimination. It is shameful that my colleagues are giving in to\nracist fear-mongering at the first opportunity to pass legislation, to\nscapegoat our immigrant neighbors and fuel hate in our communities.\n  I know what is going to happen. It won't just be undocumented. It\nwill be people like my mother who will get stopped and profiled. Does\nshe have to carry her U.S. passport around? Are we asking people now to\nhave documentation? That is what you want to turn our neighborhoods\ninto, is militarization?\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the\ngentlewoman from Michigan.\n  Ms. TLAIB. I just ask all of you to truly understand what this will\ndo to our communities.\n  Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to please vote ``no'' on this\ndivisive bill. It is so important to understand what you are going to\nturn our communities and our neighborhoods into. We can't allow that to\ncontinue to happen.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Palmer). Members are reminded to direct\ntheir remarks to the Chair.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from\nGeorgia (Mr. Collins). He is the author of the Laken Riley Act in the\nHouse, representing her hometown and her grieving family.\n  Mr. COLLINS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.\n  Mr. Speaker, I will take a minute to talk a little bit about the\njourney of this bill. When this tragedy happened and we took a look at\nwhat possibly could be done to make sure that this doesn't happen\nagain, I talked with the family and asked them if we could put Laken\nRiley's name on it.\n\n                              {time}  1500\n\n  Their response was: Congressman, if there is anything that Congress\ncan do to make sure that this doesn't happen to another family, then\nplease put her name on it and get this thing passed.\n  Mr. Speaker, and that we did. Thirty-seven Democrats with all\nRepublicans in the House passed that bill in the 118th Congress. We\nsent it over to the Senate and where so many of the other good bills\nwent, it fell into the black hole of the Senate never to be seen again.\n  I had another discussion with the family later and told them where\nthe bill was sitting and what was going on. I told them that I can\nnever let it go. I just couldn't let this go because Laken fought with\nevery ounce in her body to stay alive that day. I vowed I would fight\nwith every ounce I had to make sure that we protected families across\nthis country, and that we did.\n  Mr. Speaker, I thank the family for allowing us to do that. I also\nthank my colleagues for sticking in here and voting with us, not just\nthe Republicans but the Democrats, people on the other side of the\naisle and not just in the House, it went through the Senate. We had\nSenate Democrats that went with this bill, as well.\n  This is a good bill. It is a commonsense, law enforcement bill. It\nsimply states that for minor-level crime local law enforcement can\ncontact ICE to get these people detained, processed, and deported.\nThese people, these criminals that come across and inflict violence on\nAmerican families, they just get more and more emboldened.\n  The Speaker pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the\ngentleman from Georgia.\n  Mr. COLLINS. They commit larger and more heinous crimes, and that is\nexactly what happened here in the Laken Riley murder.\n  Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to get this passed\ntoday. Let's get this done. I will leave you with one other thought,\ntoo. I have always heard a saying that there is nothing with any\nmeaningful legislation that happens up here in this town until the\nAmerican people demand it, and by God, they are demanding this get\npassed and we get these criminals out of our country.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from\nCalifornia (Mr. LaMalfa).\n  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good colleague from California\nfor leading this charge and being that strong voice.\n  Mr. Speaker, we seem to have a common California problem on a lot of\nissues. I will remind people that California is a sanctuary State and\nsome of the first sanctuary cities emanated from California leading to\nthis problem.\n  Governor Gavin Newsom and the rest of the State is actually defying\nFederal law on enforcing borders and turning over criminal illegal\naliens when they capture them and detain them. Lives are being lost\nbecause of that.\n  Let me go back in time a little bit so they are not forgotten.\n  Jamiel Shaw, II, a 17-year-old high school student and a promising\nathlete was shot and killed in March 2008 near his home in Los Angeles.\nHis assailant, an undocumented immigrant or illegal alien, whatever you\nwant to call it, was a member of the 18th Street Gang and had been\nreleased from jail just a day before this shooting.\n  Later, he was finally convicted in 2012 and sentenced to death, then\ncommuted by Gavin Newsom.\n  Shaw's death led to increasing scrutiny of these policies and\nhopefully results here today.\n  Let me remind you of Kate Steinle. That one gripped the Nation as\nwell. She was killed on a pier in San Francisco when an illegal\nimmigrant, who shouldn't have been there, got ahold of a gun and\ndischarged it and shot poor Kate Steinle. This man was acquitted of\nmurder and manslaughter and only put away on a felon in possession of a\nfirearm. This became a focal point in discussions of sanctuary cities,\nas well.\n  We have an opportunity here to not have this happen again and again.\nWe know well, unfortunately, the story of Laken Riley because that is\nfresher in our minds. We can't go back and forget about people like\nJamiel Shaw, whose father I met who was grieving at the time and is\nstill grieving now; Kate Steinle, and so many other names that we are\nnot naming here yet today. We need to do better.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Palmer). The gentleman from Maryland has\n6 minutes remaining.\n\n[[Page H284]]\n\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.\n  Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that Representative Collins has left. I was\njust presented with a tweet that he sent out about the New Jersey-born\nEpiscopalian Bishop Mariann Budde, who performed a service as part of\nthe inaugural ceremonies. Apparently, he was not pleased with what she\nhad to say, and he wrote, ``The person giving this sermon should be\nadded to the deportation list.''\n  I would have asked him whether he was serious about that. Of course,\nthe Episcopalian Bishop is a U.S. citizen, but, of course, that is very\nmuch in the spirit of the times. It reminds me of the period of the\nAlien and Sedition Acts in 1798 when there was an effort to use the\nAlien and Sedition Acts, which have been invoked recently by the new\nPresident, in order to persecute the political opponents of the\nadministration as well as to chase down and kick out of the country all\nof the dangerous French immigrants who were spreading revolutionary\npropaganda in the country. A friend of Jefferson's wrote to him, John\nTaylor, to say how exhausted he was by all of the political fighting\nand the demonizing of immigrants and the attempt to shut the borders\ndown and to attack political opponents as enemies of the State, and so\non.\n\n  Jefferson wrote in this beautiful letter back--you should check it\nout online, if you can. It is a letter to John Taylor. In it he\ncounseled patience.\n  He said:\n\n       A little patience, and the reign of witches shall pass\n     over, their spells dissolve and the people, recovering their\n     true sight, recover the true principles of their government.\n       In the meantime, we are suffering all of the horrors and\n     indignities of the hysteria. If the game runs against us at\n     home sometimes, as inevitably it will, then we must have\n     patience because this is a game where principles are at\n     stake.\n\n  Our colleagues have spoken up for nothing other than due process. The\nidea that the bipartisan compromise that has been cemented and lost\nsince 1996 should stand, saying that we want the immediate detention\nand deportation of undocumented people who actually commit crimes. In\nan effort to drive a wedge in this body, they now say they want to move\nfrom people who have been convicted of crimes, which obviously accords\ncompletely with common sense, to people who have just been accused or\ncharged with crimes, even if the charges are dropped even for offenses\nas small as shoplifting.\n  In any event, we don't claim somehow that one side or the other is\nmorally righteous and the other is morally wrong. We are trying to have\na public policy debate. In the role of public emotion in public policy\ndebates, Mr. Speaker, is an interesting thing. Some people think it is\nenough to show up and say, there has been a terrible event. There has\nbeen a sickening murder or rape, therefore, you must pass our bill\nwithout even reading the bill, without even looking to see what is in\nthe bill. Does it make sense as a matter of public policy?\n  If that were the standard they actually believed in, they would be\nvoting for all of the gun safety legislation they have been rejecting,\nbecause every time there is a massacre, whether it is in Connecticut or\nFlorida or Texas or Illinois or any of our communities, we come in and\nwe say, we want what the American people want in public opinion polls:\na universal, violent criminal background check. We want a ban on\nmilitary-style assault weapons.\n  There is no reason 18 year olds should be bearing AR-15s and showing\nup in classrooms and churches and synagogues with weapons of mass\ndestruction. If it were enough just to appeal to emotion, they would be\nvoting with us, but, no, they say that conflicts with their public\npolicy understanding.\n  Well, at the very least you would think they would have the burden of\ntelling us what they do support, but we never hear anything. You don't\nhear a peep out of them about gun violence because the second\namendment, as they misinterpret it, is sacrosanct as well as their NRA\nsupport and contributions. That is what they bow down to is the\nNational Rifle Association when it comes to this policy debate because\nthey won't advance anything that conflicts with the NRA, even if the\nSupreme Court says it is perfectly fine.\n  We had a ban on assault weapons for a decade. It was perfectly\nconstitutional. We have the Brady act. We have a violent criminal\nbackground check, but even though expanding it to make it universal\nwould save hundreds or thousands of American citizen lives every year,\nthey won't touch it.\n  Don't invoke emotion selectively and say everybody has got to go\nalong with what you are saying without even analyzing the policy\nimplications and the constitutional implications if you are not willing\nto put anything on the table to reduce the sickening death toll for gun\nviolence in America. There is nothing in the world that approaches what\nwe have got here. It is 25 times higher than the EU countries, dozens\nof times higher than Japan, Canada, U.K., you name it. Yet, they\npretend as if there is no problem and they seize on an opportunistic\nbill like this to try to drive a wedge within our Congress and within\nour people.\n  I hope they do better when we get to the second week of this new\nadministration than freeing violent criminal felons who stormed this\nCapitol and attacked our police officers than bringing forward a bill\nlike this to try to cover up for their complicity with that sickening\nviolence against our constitutional order.\n  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California has 7 minutes\nremaining.\n  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.\n  First, in response to my friend, I would say after the last 4 years\nin which the Democrats brought the full force of the government to\nintimidate social platforms, to shut down dissenting opinions, and\nstifle public debate, I would be a little more careful about invoking\nthe Alien and Sedition Acts.\n  The gentleman offers us gun control as an antidote; we offer criminal\ncontrol. Get the criminals off the streets, which is exactly what this\nbill does. I am sure that he must be very upset that Mr. Biden pardoned\nhis son for gun crimes.\n  Mr. Speaker, to my Democratic colleagues who have joined Republicans\nto pass this bill into law, I thank them for standing up to the woke\nleft of their party. That is a hard thing to do, especially when it\nexposes them to their insults and epithets and threats of political\nretribution. To the others, I ask how many more laws with names\nattached to them do we need to pass before you take this crisis\nseriously.\n  How many American citizens must die at the hands of illegal aliens\nbefore we all agree that these tragedies are fully preventable? Must\nthe name of my child or their child be the one attached to an H.R.\nnumber or an S. number before Democrats can vote ``yes'' on these\ncommonsense bills?\n  The fine point of the matter comes down to this: If this bill had\nbeen law, Jocelyn Nungaray, Sarah Root, Rachel Moran, Laken Riley, and\nmany, many more such victims would be alive today because their killers\nwould have been taken into custody. Under President Trump, they never\nwould have been allowed into our country in the first place.\n  Mr. Speaker, I ask for adoption of this measure, and I yield back the\nbalance of my time.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.\n  Pursuant to House Resolution 53, the previous question is ordered on\nthe bill.\n  The question is on the third reading of the bill.\n  The bill was ordered to be read a third time, and was read the third\ntime.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on passage of the bill.\n  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that\nthe ayes appeared to have it.\n  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.\n  The yeas and nays were ordered.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further\nproceedings on this question will be postponed.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2025-01-22-pt1-PgH277"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 36.47024399833754, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}