Bill Pascrell: “Mr. Ranking Member, Chairman Goodlatte, I start by expressing my appreciation to Chairman Goodlatte for acknowledging…”

“Mr. Ranking Member, Chairman Goodlatte, I start by expressing my appreciation to Chairman Goodlatte for acknowledging the actions that were taken by the Governor of New Jersey when he was the U.S. attorney back in 2006 to 2007. By the way, the former Justice Department was not even in existence yet. I agree with much, on both sides, of what has been said here, but I think we are missing the point. The legislation is needed to prohibit this from happening again. Congressman Poe, the gentleman from Texas, wants to take the political preference out of the Justice Department. He is absolutely correct, I agree, but not just about where the money is going to go. We have a major problem here. I have been shouting from the rooftops about the need to reform the Justice Department's settlement agreement process for almost a decade on this floor. When we talk about lawsuits being settled, deferred prosecutions are to get rid of the defendant so that the defendant, at the cost of doing business, pays a fine. That is how it is done. This bill does nothing about that--zero. {time} 1545 Many of the corporations that stood before the courts--and I am not a lawyer, as most of you guys and gals are--they stood before the courts for 15 years, representing those corporations, and what they got out of it was: Look, we are going to slap you on the wrist. We are going to give you a little fine. At that time, you can give the money to whoever you wish. And then you go away.…”