Hank Johnson: “I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5720, which I hope will be only the first in a…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5720, which I hope will be only the first in a series of reforms from this body to assist our courts in maintaining the appearance of impartiality, which is so essential to the judicial function. Perhaps more than any other branch, the judiciary relies on the public's perception of its rectitude, its rejection of bias, and its commitment to fairness as a necessary predicate to the accomplishment of its work. The more the public trusts our judges, the more willing the public is to accept their judgments. Alexander Hamilton wrote that judges do not have armies to enforce. They do not have appropriations to encourage. They have only their impeccable reasoning and their unimpeachable objective, which together ensure acceptance of their decisions. That is why after The Wall Street Journal's investigative reporting revealed widespread failures in the judiciary's compliance with a straightforward conflict of interest statute, my Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Subcommittee promptly held a hearing to examine why those failures occurred and what we could do to help the judiciary avoid making them in the future. I am pleased that Representative Ross and the ranking member of the subcommittee, Representative Issa, immediately advanced a bill designed specifically to rectify this systemic problem, and I am proud to support it.…”