Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Executive Business Meeting
On the Nominations of:
Gregg Jeffrey Costa, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit
Cheryl Ann Krause, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit
Tanya S. Chutkan, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia
M. Hannah Lauck, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia
Leo T. Sorokin, to be United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts
Richard Franklin Boulware II, to be United States District Judge for the District of Nevada
Salvador Mendoza, Jr., to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington
Staci Michelle Yandle, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois
John Charles Cruden, to be an Assistant Attorney General
Leon Rodriguez, to be Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security
And Bills:
S.1720, Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Mr. Chairman,
I believe that we are ready to report out Judge Costa, for the Fifth Circuit, as well as the four district court nominees who were held over last week. I don’t believe that anyone on our side has requested a roll call vote so I believe that we can proceed on those nominations by voice vote. As for the remaining nominees who are on the agenda for the first time, we’d ask to hold them over one week.
It is also my understanding that there are still ongoing discussions on S. 1720 and that it will be held over as well. I’ll have a little more to say about that bill in a few minutes.
Before the votes I’d like to say a few words about Leon Rodriguez, who has been nominated to be the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security.
During his hearing, I asked him about his view regarding Congress’ oversight authority. I raised the issue because in all my years in Congress, I haven’t seen a single political appointee who hasn’t said at their hearing that they’d respond to our oversight requests, but then they always seem to forget what they promised.
Mr. Rodriguez responded: So I think the Senator’s question is “How can I assure you that I mean it when I say that?” He then went on to assure me and this committee that he’d be committed to providing us the information we need to fulfill our oversight role.
So with that background, I must say I was disappointed when Mr. Rodriguez provided a host of non-responsive answers to my Questions for the Record.
Let me give you a couple of examples.
Here is one response he used with slight variations to 17 different questions, “If confirmed, I will certainly commit to a careful study of this program to determine any additional appropriate steps forward, including any possible changes to address this matter.”
I didn’t ask him to review the policy, I asked him for his view or plan on a specific matter.
Here is another answer he provided to 7 different questions, “Given the complexity of immigration law and policy, and the unique facts of each case, I do not believe that this question can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”
I won’t give you any more examples, but there are additional questions that were left unanswered.
So let me just say, Mr. Rodriguez’s record gives a lot of us pause.
Immigration reform is one of the President’s top priorities. If we pass an immigration bill in the next three years, the Director of this agency will have a lot of power and responsibility. For that reason, it’s especially important to get answers to how he’ll implement such a law, how he views certain policies, and what actions he plans to take on various immigration matters.
So, I’ll be sending a number of follow-up questions to Mr. Rodriguez, and I hope that this time he’ll be more forthcoming.
I‘d also like to comment on the Obama Administration’s apparent decision to terminate the NSA’s bulk collection of telephone metadata.
All along, the President said that he believed that the bulk collection of this metadata was necessary for our national security. Now, we’re being told otherwise. Which is it? His credibility just keeps getting worse and worse, whether it’s on this, the economy, or healthcare. The American people understand this, which is why he’s so unpopular. Now, we haven’t been provided the Administration’s proposal yet, so the details are murky. But one thing is absolutely clear – the Obama Administration has to stop misleading the American people about this and many other issues.
Going back to the patent bill – I appreciate the fact that the Chairman has put this bill on the agenda for consideration because I share his desire to address the problem of patent trolls.
Members on both sides of the aisle agree that abusive patent tactics hurt the ability of business to expand and flourish, and undermine the integrity of our patent system. The House passage of Chairman Goodlatte’s bill – the Innovation Act – by a large bipartisan margin, and the White House’s support for that bill, are evidence of the willingness of folks to do something about patent trolls.
Our staffs have been meeting for several weeks to try to reach an agreement on a number of critical provisions that would have a huge impact on combatting patent troll abuse. I believe these discussions have been productive, and certainly they’ve been made in good faith. It’s my position that any bill we pass needs to be multi-faceted in its approach, and must include serious, meaningful provisions to address the abusive litigation tactics we’re seeing employed by the trolls. I’m willing to work on compromise language, but I’m also not willing to accept language that is so weak that it won’t really put a stop to patent trolling. We need strong language that will be effective in deterring these deceptive and harmful practices. So I appreciate your willingness to work with me, Senator Cornyn, Senator Hatch and Senator Lee to improve the bill.
Again, I think we’re making progress and I’m optimistic about our negotiations.
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