Judiciary
More on Judiciary
May 16, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after voting against H.R. 5698 the Protect and Serve Act:
“The evidence shows that violence against law enforcement has been in overall decline for 25 years, and I want that decline to continue. What has changed in recent years is a rising demand by citizens for police accountability. The appropriate response to strained police-community relations is not to criminalize what is already a crime. Instead, we should support bills like the Congressional Black Caucus’s Jobs and Justice Act of 2018, which helps law enforcement obtain training on de-escalation techniques and policing persons who are disabled or mentally ill.
Issues:Civil Rights
April 12, 2018
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res. 2.
We often get distracted by debating the title of a proposed constitutional amendment without getting into serious discussion about whether or not the specific provisions will actually help balance the budget.
If we are ever going to balance the budget, the fact is it is going to require Members to cast some tough votes, and many of these votes will be career-ending votes, and a constitutional amendment calling itself the
balanced budget amendment cannot change that reality.
Issues:Federal BudgetTaxes
February 27, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after voting against H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017: “While I support the underlying goal of prosecuting those who facilitate sex trafficking online to the fullest extent of the law, I am opposed to how this bill accomplishes that goal. There are laws already on the books that have been successfully used by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to send executives of websites that promote prostitution to federal prison. Further, the bill will apply not only to online advertisers of sex trafficking, which Congress already criminalized in 2015 when we passed the SAVE Act (see 18 U.S.C. 1591), and punishes conduct that is much less serious than what is ordinarily viewed as 'sex trafficking.'
February 15, 2018
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chair, H.R. 620, the so-called ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017, is an attack on the civil rights of Americans with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA, is a civil rights law passed in 1990 to protect people with disabilities from discrimination in all aspects of society.
I recognize that the ADA falls within the committee jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee, and I am here as the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce because, if H.R. 620 were to become law, it would have a profound effect on students and workers with disabilities who are trying to learn, work, or just generally access their community.
January 11, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed S. 139, the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017: “S. 139 is an unprecedented re-authorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that continues to allow the federal government to collect Americans’ emails, chat logs, and browser history without a showing of probable cause."
December 6, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after he voted to table Congressman Al Green’s (TX-09) resolution calling for the impeachment of President Trump: “This President has made statements and taken actions that approve of those who preach hatred and division while promoting policies that would imperil our democracy, weaken our economy, and undermine our national security.
November 7, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Jason Lewis (R-MN) introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at safely reining in the size and associated costs of the federal criminal code and prison system.
H.R. 4261, the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act takes a broad-based approach to improving the federal sentencing and corrections system, spanning from sentencing reform to release policies. The legislation, which is inspired by the successes of states across the country, will break the cycle of recidivism, concentrate prison space on violent and career criminals, increase the use of evidence-based alternatives to incarceration, curtail over-criminalization, reduce crime, and save money.
September 7, 2017
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of Amendment No. 66, offered by Representative JAYAPAL, to strike the $535 million increase for ICE enforcement and instead add $30 million to ICE's Office of the Inspector General and $10 million to DHS's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. This additional oversight funding would support investigations of sexual assault in immigration detention as mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
Issues:Civil Rights
September 5, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Bobby Scott (VA-03), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, released the following statement after Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirmed that President Trump is ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“I am deeply disappointed President Trump is ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In 2012, we asked undocumented immigrants who were brought here at a young age, through no fault of their own, to step out of the shadows and undergo robust background checks in exchange for work authorization and temporary relief from deportation. We promised them an opportunity to legally contribute to their communities.
August 21, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), ranking member of the House Committee on Judiciary, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos about a recent memo that showed intent of the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Education (ED) to reexamine the process by which the federal government ensures racial diversity on college campuses.