Mike Collins: “I must reluctantly oppose this amendment. I do not want to minimize in the least the unacceptable nature of the present…”

“I must reluctantly oppose this amendment. I do not want to minimize in the least the unacceptable nature of the present state of affairs, and I do not want to minimize in the least the brute fact that a murderer is presently escaping justice. I also do not want to minimize the service that this man gave to our country. As a chaplain in the Air Force and as a pastor for over 11 years, it has been, unfortunately, my duty on many occasions to have to deliver news of one who has either been killed in action or of one who has died tragically. With that, my heart bleeds and my heart hurts for this family. In this situation, I commend my friend from across the aisle for his dedication to bringing this person to justice; and right now there is the inescapable fact of a problem going on. However, the remedy proposed by the author of this amendment raises issues of such magnitude that they need to be resolved through regular order, through the Judiciary Committee's hearing and markup process. I, personally, pledge to work with Mr. Ryan to examine in the Judiciary Committee the issues of foreign nations' compliance with extradition requests. On behalf of Chairman Goodlatte, I pledge to examine the possibility of withdrawing the right of nationals of non- cooperating countries to enter the U.S. Certainly, our Crime Subcommittee has the expertise on the extradition issue and the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee has the expertise on immigration.…”