The Voting Rights Act is the crown jewel of our Nation's civil rights laws.

I and many of my colleagues, most legal commentators were deeply disappointed by the Court's 5-4 decision in Shelby County v. Holder.

This is unsustainable. It is outrageous and must be stopped immediately.

I maintain that the Fourth Amendment, to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, means that this metadata collected in such a super-aggregated fashion can amount to a Fourth Amendment violation before you do anything else.

And more chilling now than anything is the fact that they have got information through phone numbers, which can easily be attached to names, of everybody in the country for at least 6 years.

We never at any point during this debate have approved the type of unchecked sweeping surveillance of United States citizens employed by our Government in the name of fighting the war on terrorism.

Over the past decade, the Members of this Committee have vigorously debated the proper balance between our safety and our constitutional right to privacy.

This has been a very important hearing, and I wanted to begin by asking Professor Martin about the decision by Justice Alito...

I think I am more concerned about the collection legality than I am about the uses to which it is put.

If only relevant conversations can be secured under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, then why on earth would we find now that we are collecting the names of everybody in the United States of America who made any calls for the last 6 years…

the title of bill that is the subject of today's hearing, namely--the 'Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2013'--is unfortunately very misleading.

H.R. 2122 will further tip the balance in favor of business interests by giving them multiple opportunities to intervene at various points in the rulemaking process.

My greatest concern is that H.R. 2122 will have a pernicious effect on the public health, safety, and well-being of Americans.

By delaying the rulemaking process, we ultimately put American citizens at risk.

The so-called 'Regulatory Accountability Act'--which effectively will prevent agencies from issuing regulations--is among the most seriously flawed bills we have considered to date.

This means that agency officials will now be required to balance the costs of an air pollution standard with the costs of how many anticipated lives and illnesses that will result in the absence of such regulations.

Thank you, Ms. Lofgren. I appreciate this important debate and participating in it. Members of the House, by imposing a nationwide ban on abortions performed after 20 weeks, H.R. 1797, the so-called Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection…

The breadth and scope of these laws is astounding and definitely in need of repair.

Unfortunately, Congress has increasingly resorted to criminalizing actions as the solution to various problems over the past several decades.

There are now about 4,500 federal criminal laws. And, there are about 300,000 federal regulations that impose federal criminal penalties, many of which lack any mens rea requirement.

I agree with you. But if there were trials--and in one case, there may have been, and in another there wasn't--that's for the court to determine.

We gather today at a time when the Nation stands at a legal and political crossroad.

In the past week, many in the Administration have implied that because they have briefed the Congress and this Committee, that we are all complicit in the use of these surveillance tactics.

I was absent for rollcall vote 211, as I had stepped away from the House Floor momentarily. If I had been present for this vote, on final passage of H.R. 2217, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2014, I would have voted…

I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1123, the 'Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act,' because it would restore the ability of consumers to unlock their mobile phones so that they can readily switch from one wireless carrier to…