Steve Cohen

I would like to recognize and commend House Representative, Subcommittee Member, Steve Cohen (D-TN) for introducing the Stop Underrides Act on March 5, 2019.

They, quote, 'lie about a loaded weapon'--'about like a loaded weapon,' unquote.

I think we--I appreciate your coming to the hearing, and the previous time we have been here, we have seen a lot of unanimity that this needs to be something that could happen, and so maybe we will have a bipartisan result to this.

Ms. Alvarez, you are most appreciated for coming here. Very few people have been amongst such legal talent, and you have been a star here as a citizen telling us about the situation on the border.

I think in all my--this is my 13th year in Congress--I haven't had a better panel that discussed the issues and probably brought the two sides together.

I think we hopefully will have some legislation as a result of this hearing, and so I think it was very productive and very worthwhile.

The so-called emergency is--is at the border, tomorrow the emergency could be climate change or guns.

No President should have that kind of unlimited power. That is what is at stake here.

There is no real emergency, and even if there were one, the President could not redirect military funds for a purpose expressly prohibited by law to the military.

The President's actions are doubly unlawful.

Congress, as a co-equal branch, cannot be silent in the face of this power-grab.

They, quote, 'lie about a loaded weapon'--'about like a loaded weapon,' unquote.

While I believe President Trump's emergency declaration is legally and substantively without merit, it also raises a number of broader questions about the National Emergencies Act.

I was pleased with the House vote, 245 to 182, on Tuesday to pass a joint resolution to terminate this so-called emergency.

President Trump's actions undermine the basic separation of powers.

Unfortunately, President Trump has undermined those basic principles.

I am pleased today to convene the first hearing of this Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, for the 116th Congress.

It is good to have the gavel. The Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which is the name it had when the Democrats were in the majority, and it is the Democrats name once again, and…

That is why earlier this year, Congress rejected the President's request for $5.7 billion to build a border wall.

The law hasn't worked as intended.

Polls show that the American people do not want to pay billions of dollars for a vanity project.

I am making a fundamentally conservative point.

There ain't no emergency.

It was illegal use of that power.

I think where we ought to concentrate on is Mar-a-Lago and what are the climate consequences to Mar-a-Lago if we don't act?