Press Releases

As part of the Administration’s unprecedented clemency initiative, serious violent felons are being releasedWashington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) today called on President Obama to cease commuting the sentences of serious violent felons and other drug traffickers who pose a threat to America’s public safety. Although the President has the constitutional authority to issue pardons and commutations, President Obama has initiated an unprecedented clemency program for federal drug offenders and has granted more commutations than the previous 10 presidents combined.

Chairman Goodlatte: When we look at the array of agencies and departments within the federal government, only a certain number carry out a mission that is explicitly called for in the Constitution. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), at the Department of Commerce, is one such agency. As the PTO carries out its Constitutional mission, we need to conduct appropriate oversight to ensure that our IP laws are being implemented fairly and in line with Congressional intent. Over the past several years the PTO has been tasked with implementing the America Invents Act (AIA), which was signed into law nearly five years ago on September 16, 2011.

Chairman Goodlatte:  The topic of this hearing today, federal court diversity jurisdiction, might seem dry and technical at first blush, but it’s actually near the heart of the Founder’s vision of the body politic -- namely their understanding that federal courts should hear cases between citizens of different states, especially when those lawsuits involved commercial or other subjects integral to the national economy. Currently, when a citizen from one state sues a defendant from another state, the inter-state nature of that lawsuit gives federal courts jurisdiction over the case.  While the Constitution provides that Congress can grant federal courts jurisdiction over all such

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today pressed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson for information about a criminal immigrant previously deported at least five times who is currently illegally present in the United States and reportedly responsible for nearly a dozen sexual assaults. Nicodemo Coria-Gonzales is charged with six felony offenses, including aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated kidnapping.  According to news reports, Coria-Gonzales was arrested after allegedly kidnapping a woman and attempting

Washington, D.C. – The House Judiciary Committee has announced its schedule for the week of September 12-16, 2016. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1311:00 a.m. | Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil JusticeHearing on: Exploring Federal Diversity Jurisdiction Witnesses:

• Mr. Charles Cooper, Partner, Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
• Ms. Joanna Shepherd, Professor of Law, Emory Law School
• Mr.

Washington, D.C.— Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), and House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) introduced the Midnight Rules Relief Act (H.R.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2laGc0kemAE Washington, D.C.— House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) delivered the following remarks on the House floor in support of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (S. 2040). Chairman Goodlatte: Mr. Speaker, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act  has been introduced over several successive Congresses and has twice passed the Senate.

“The transition of the IANA functions to the global multi-stakeholder community is a serious, groundbreaking, and potentially unalterable action.”Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), U.S.