News

Chairman Goodlatte:  “Just over six months ago, President Obama announced that he would once again pivot to the economy.  The bottom line of his speech:  after four-and-a-half years of the Obama Administration, ‘We're not there yet.’

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday at 10:00 a.m., the Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations Subcommittee will hold a hearing to examine the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) use of storefront operations.  The hearing will focus on a botched undercover operation known as “Operation Fearless” by the ATF in Milwaukee and other recent stings in order to determine if these problems are systemic in ATF storefront operations. ATF Deputy Director Thomas Brandon will testify at tomorrow’s hearing. 

Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives approved H.R. 1944, the Private Property Rights Protection Act, by a vote of 353-65. Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) introduced the Private Property Rights Protection Act to protect Americans from eminent domain abuse and to disincentivize state and local governments from using eminent domain to seize the homes of hardworking Americans only to give the property to other private interests.

Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives today approved H.R. 1123, the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act by a vote of 295-114. This bipartisan bill, which restores the exemption that allowed consumers to unlock their cell phones, is a simple, but important, fix to a serious problem that consumers face today. H.R. 1123 is supported by the Fraternal Order of Police, Competitive Carriers Association, Consumers Union, CTIA, and Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chief sponsor of the bill, applauded today’s passage.

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Congressman Randy Forbes (R-Va.) today sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking what the Department of Justice plans to do in light of a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit that could endanger our communities by allowing criminal gang members to receive asylum in the United States or withholding of removal by simply claiming that they have renounced their membership in the gang. In the case of Martinez v.

Washington, D.C. – Following today’s Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee hearing on asylum fraud, several members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Comptroller General Gene Dodaro requesting that the agency fully investigate the cost of asylum fraud to American taxpayers.

Washington, D.C. – Today at 1:00 p.m. the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law will hold a hearing on the Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome Act of 2014 (SCRUB Act).

According to several estimates, the federal regulatory burden has reached $1.75-1.8 trillion or approximately $15,000 annually per U.S. household.The SCRUB Act would institute an independent regulatory review commission to examine regulations that could be repealed or amended to reduce unnecessary regulatory cost burdens on entrepreneurs and small businesses.