Unfortunately, we saw another tragedy with the School Shooting in parkland, florida. Betsy devos the education , secretary, we just learned, has made comments that Congress Needs to hold hearings looking into these types of issues dealing with School Shootings. Your committee and your leadership you have not chosen , to go that route into gun violence. Do you think that mrs. Devos recommendation is a good one . Rep. Goodlatte we will consider that. We do believe that communities need to make sure that theyre doing everything to keep their schools secure. When i visit schools around my Congressional District i know that a lot of measures are taken today that were not taken 20 years ago when i first started visiting schools as a member of congress. You could go up to the door and walk right in. Now they are always locked and always seven has been arranged to meet me at the door and sign me in. Those precautions need to be taken. Obviously there are extraneous circumstances that lead to incidents like this we need to one. Learn more about it each time we have a major tragedy like this. I have staff on my committee communicate with Law Enforcement, at the fbi and local level, and gather information so that we can look at what might be done. I think most of the things that need to be done relate to the laws that are already in existence. Obviously, we need to do more. Almost all of these Mass Shootings involve Mental Illness. We need to do more to make sure that people are getting treatment, but people in these situations are not getting access to guns, or that when they act out they are promptly reported so that people can get assistance to them rather than getting to a circumstance like we have seen. Ive always been a strong advocate for enforcing the hundreds of federal and thousands of state and local gun laws that are on the books. There has been an uptick in this administration, and i commend the Justice Department for making this a high priority. I think even more can be done to make sure that when people have straw purchasers, lie on instant check forms, do other things to purchase firearms that they are not entitled under the law to have either because they have a Mental Health commitment or a criminal conviction, much more can be done. The statistics are still very low. If you go into a gun store and fill out the instant check form and lie on the form, which is a felony, the odds are still less than 1 in 500, more than 1 in 500, that you will be prosecuted for that crime even though they found you out because on the instant check it revealed you had lied on the form. Unless people know there is a consequence to these laws we will have more abuse of the laws. They are designed to keep people who should i have firearms from getting them. The first step has got to be to enforce those laws. Scott staying on the issue of gun violence in looking at it from a different perspective, there have been a lot of questions over the last 24 hours over the fact that the federal government, the centers for Disease Control is forbidden from studying the issue of gun violence. The original authors of that restriction came to regret that decision later on after the shooting in a roar, colorado, arguing we should at least be studying this. What would you say to americans right now about the fact that we are forbidden from even having that examination . Rep. Goodlatte i think it relates to Mental Health, that certainly should be done. I have not spoken to jay dickey about that. I think this is a jurisdiction of another committee but i dont think its inappropriate, particularly if the original author of that says to take a look at it to see if theres a way to do that which promotes the core purpose of the centers for Disease Control, to prevent disease, not to address issues related to things that happen because someone has a disease like Mental Illness. Scott the shooter in parkland, florida reportedly was able to purchase the ar15 weapon when he was 18 years old. He was able to purchase and ar15 at 18, but unable to purchase a case of beer. Do you see any problem with that . Rep. Goodlatte in virginia i think you only have to be 18 to purchase, but be that as it may i think that that decision is one that individual states can make. I do definitely agree there should be a minimum age. It would not be inappropriate for states to examine with the what that minimum age is based on their experience with people using firearms. On the other hand, there is a long tradition of families working with their children to educate them about Firearm Safety and continuing with hunting traditions, and other traditions using firearms legitimately and for personal safety that should be promoted. But education about firearms is obviously a critical element to that. Alan the issue of approaching this as a Mental Health issue, i want to make sure i am understanding. The gun violence has been deemed a Public Health epidemic. This is something that is leading to many, many thousands of u. S. Deaths. Are you saying that we should not study that from the perspective of gun violence and gun ownership . Rep. Goodlatte im saying that the centers for Disease Control has a mission that relates to preventing disease. There are many things in our society that we would like to prevent have done differently, and it may or may not be appropriate for the centers of Disease Control. One of the aspects of gun violence is the misuse of guns by people with Mental Illness. That seems to be something that could be discussed. But, and when you look at Mass Shootings a very High Percentage , involved that. There are many other issues related to gun use that do not involve Mental Illness. Therefore, the issue of having studies done for political purposes as opposed to studies done for trying to find a way to cure people of Mental Illnesses that lead to misusing firearms are two things to be examined in a different lights. Scott switching to something that is also quite a bit in the news today, immigration. Earlier this week the president endorsed a proposal from senator Chuck Grassley that contains what they refer to as the 4 pillars of what an immigration bill should look like including protections for dreamers money , for the border wall and Border Security, a limit to familybased immigration, and the end of the diversity visa. He also did not quite endorse but offered support for a bill that you coauthored that includes those, but also includes other enforcement measures. Expanding everify, a crackdown on sanctuary cities, and others like that. My question is what happens if the senate through everything , going on, comes out with the grassley bill . Is that something you can support and is that something the house can embrace because it is not quite as tough as yours . Rep. Goodlatte i support the measure we worked for months with a lot of members of the house to produce. That is the americas future act, which includes provisions generally you described your there is a lot more detail to it, obviously. I think that is a better way to address both the need to take care of Daca Recipients the president created a dynamic that has pushed this issue to the front burner. I think thats a good thing. He ended a program that i think was unconstitutional, and immediately turned to congress and said you should fix this. We took that seriously. We have created legislation to address that, but at the same time hes in very clear he and , the speaker of the house have been very clear that we should take the steps necessary to make sure that this problem does not persist in the future. That is where the other three pillars of the proposal we have added everify because it is extremely popular. It works extremely well, and because when you use it the sector of the economy that is the most dramatically affected is agriculture, where 80 or more of workers are not lawfully here. We need to have a workable guestworker program. The Current Program does not work, has not been used although there has been an uptick since the Obama Administration of and more people are using it. Still, the vast majority dont use it and it is very costly. Both we have a program that works for the farmers and for the workers, but also with a keeps agriculture in the United States, a very important a part of the economy and very directly affected by competition from many, many countries around the world. Virtually everything we produce in United States to put on the dinner tables of americans can be produced here and in dozens of other countries around the world. We have got to have that program. Much more needs to be done in immigration. This is not a comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. There are 75 nonimmigrant visa programs, at least a dozen or more programs. Calls which have various for reform of those programs. You have many more security measures. The administration provided congress with a list of about 70 items department of Homeland Security wanted to see acted upon. Fewer than half of those are in the securing americas future act. Then you have many more people here unlawfully in the United States that are not addressed in daca. There is plenty more work to be done after this is a good down payment on making sure that we address this pressing problem for young people that are brought here, in many instances by their parents at a young age and consider this their home, as well as addressing it from the standpoint of making sure that in the future parents and other people who do not flout our laws. Respect for the rule of law is one of my highest priorities. I was an immigration lawyer before i was elected to congress your i have helped people immigrate to the United States from more than 70 countries, so im very much proimmigration. However, we are a nation of laws and we have to have respect for the rule of law. I think were losing that when we go through one or more administration really honored our immigration laws. I am pleased this administration is taking that more seriously. As they do that calls for congress to act, not just on these issues but more. During my remaining time in congress i intend to focus on Immigration Reform issues. Susan we have about 10 minutes left. Scott what are the chances that your bill gets a vote on that house for. I member you told me that the whip count was very good. I heard other accounts that it was far short from what needed to pass on the house floor. Rep. Goodlatte i am on the whip team. Have been almost the entire time ive been in congress. What happens is that you get a count back that tells you they lean yes and others that are undecided, others leaning no, and others who say they are outright no. When you take that count and you go to the various individuals or sometimes groups of individuals and say what is it going to take to change this . A lot of the information, and we do not talk about the details of the whip count, but given the complexities of immigration law, a lot of the undecided folks are simply people trying to understand better how it will work. They get information from a constituent or from somebody here in washington and say im not so sure about that. Those things need to be clarified. There will be a lot of that activity over the next few weeks while we explain it. As a part of that, we will probably learn things about our own legislation that can be tweaked to improve the bill. That is the process we are going through now. It is not at all different from process we go through an major bills are brought through the whip process. It is very Important Information gathering, and as you can imagine this is as complicated as tax law and also has emotions attached to it as well. We respect that and understand that. Process,education making sure people understand how it works and understanding what may not work for some people so that some changes can be made in the bill. When you make changes, you have to check back with the people already supporting the bill. Make sure that when you make the change you will not lose their support. We get that. We are working with a diverse array of people and organizations to make that happen. And i feel good about it. Alan adding to the complexity of everything you listed, House Speaker paul ryan has set up interesting parameters for resolving this. He said he would not put anything on the floor without white house approval rep. Goodlatte we do have white house approval. The white house put out a published statement, and we stay in almost daily contact with not just the president , but his key advisers, about what works and does not work. Alan he said he needs the majority in the house to get something on there. A bill like senator grassleys, which also has the president s support, has been rejected by the Freedom Caucus. Theres more support maybe for years, but that would probably lose a lot of democratic support. How does the speaker navigate what is turning into such a tight window to get something through . Rep. Goodlatte his instructions to me is get the bill done. He, the leader, and the whip are all in to get that done. We will work very hard. We expect the senate to do the same thing. At some point, this week or later, we want the senate to produce a bill. We hope it is a good bill. This is an issue that once the house and the senate has passed legislation, to sit down and it isut the differences clear at the end of the day that everyone will give they want. But it is important that we address this issue and we have to do it all from the standpoint of making sure we address the daca issue and address the issues related to making sure our immigration system works from the enforcement standpoint and from the standpoint of moving it in the right direction. We start the process of moving towards a meritbased immigrations to some in this bill, and that is equally important as part of the process. Alan the Freedom Caucus chairman said how speaker ryan handles this issue will be a defining moment for the speaker and that there will be dire consequences if he handles it poorly. A lot of people took that as a threat against the speaker. Do you believe his job is at risk . Rep. Goodlatte no, i dont. I believe strongly that he wants to accomplish objectives that are very similar to the objectives that are similar to the overwhelming majority of the republican conference in the house. Im working also with mark meadows and other folks, and my goal is to keep it that way to build. We also have other groups, the tuesday group and the main street group, we are working with them as well. And the largest caucus of republican members in the house. Working with all of them on getting this bill finished and then passed through. Just to end the immigration portion of this. One more question, you have been abundantly clear how important it is to improve Border Security , to ensure that we dont have those future waves of illegal immigration in the future. You are clearly on record on that point. But in this current debate do you consider it necessary for dreamers to have some Legal Protection . Rep. Goodlatte yes. I have taken that position from the outset when the president ended the program, which i felt was illegal. He said you have to address this, absolutely we have to address it. I view this as an opportunity for the dreamers and the country, the american people, to address an issue that has been on the back burner with the problem getting worse due to neglect and lack of clear guidance on enforcement will stop when you build respect for the rule of law, and when you reward those people that come to the United States as immigrants illegally, and make sure you reduce the opportunity for people to do so unlawfully. I think you are improving the situation. That is not to say we dont need dreamers and other people who want to come to the United States. We just want to see it done legally. We are by far the most generous country on earth with legal we have 1. 1 million green cards issued every year. There is no other nation on earth that is remotely close. We have 25 to 30 Million People a year visit the United States for a host of reasons. For education, business, travel, and 70 other categories that we recognize for nonimmigrants entering the United States. We want them to come here, be safe when they are here, and be sure that the people that come here are going to be safe when they do. I support the efforts to make sure that the borders are more secure and the visa Processing System is more effective. Scott one of your colleagues, trey gowdy, has opened an investigation into the white houses handling the rob porter situation. Looking at his employment at the white house, as well as the security clearance issues surrounding his employment, does your committee, because it has jurisdiction over the fbi and Law Enforcement agencies, have any plans to look at those issues or hold hearings . Rep. Goodlatte we are being briefed on the issue. Im pleased that trey gowdy is conducting an investigation. Sometimes we Work Together with him, as we have on other investigations going on right now related to the fbi and the department of justices handling of the matters related to one of the candidates for president last year. There is a special counsel handling the other. We work with the committee to accomplish those goals. We want to make sure the security clearance issue is working properly. We do not want people within appropriate records working in the white house. We want to make sure no one in a high profile position for the president of the United States can be blackmailed, or anything like that. The matter does need to be looked into and we will work with chairman gowdy and his committee and take appropriate action in our committee if that becomes necessary. Susan one minute left. Alan i wanted to get to this before we let you go. Obviously, you are retiring after a long service in the United States congress. What are your plans for the future in the next couple of years . Might we see you come back to town on k street . Rep. Goodlatte when i ran for congress 26 years ago, i said that i would stay for 12 years. Now im going on 26. That and the fact that i talked to my wife on the telephone four nights a week for all of those years means that we are ready to make a change. I have always wanted to do something else, but i dont know what it is. The ending of my chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee this year provides a good jumping off point. Ive said the people for the last few months of not ruling anything out or ruling anything in. I will think about it. What i have found since i announced in november is that that time has been very precious, given that everyone said there is a lot of things that we want you to do in congress before then. We have been extremely busy. I do plan to consult with a number of my former colleagues on both sides of the aisle, for whom i have respect, about the things that they are doing and ideas that they have. I am open to a lot of different possibilities and have not settled on anything, nor do i plan to for a while. I plan to finish this year and work on issues like immigration, government surveillance, copyright law, and a host of other things you are about to tell me we dont have time to talk about. Susan i am. I will invite you to come back because we only got through 2 big ones, and that list is long and important. Thank you. Newsmakers is back after this conversation with the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Bob goodlatte of virginia. We spent a lot of time on guns and gun ownership after the florida School Shooting and immigration. I will do those in reverse order. Both the senate is working its way through something on immigration, and the house has his bill and other considerations under play. He said the speaker said get it done, but that has been a real challenge for congress. Where do you see immigration going . Alan the senate, who knows what will come out of there . We expected something to get out of the senate and run into a roadblock in the house. That we are seeing such a struggle to get out of the house probably bodes really for the future of this. If and when this is moved over to the house, the president has endorsed two bills. One from senator grassley, and one from representative goodlatte. He obviously favors his bill, as any congressman would do but , he did not answer how he could resolve that with democrats. His bill will probably get almost no democratic support. Even though he sounded eager to get this done, i did not hear anything that will lead me to believe there is a solution. Susan do the two sides remain really polarized . Scott certainly. On most bills to that on most bills. Lets take goodlatte for example, zero democrats are cosponsoring that though. That is why 2018 is important. It will take almost all of the republicans to get behind the bill for it to pass the house floor. Right now, even the republicans are divided. From what we understand, that support is nowhere near 218. There is a number of problems specifically having to do with lawmakers who represent agricultural regions who have real issues about whether half guestworkers can work some of those higher cultural lands. Right now republicans are divided right now, republicans are divided on the issue of immigration. I think there are a few that wish that the status quo prevails and nothing happens on immigration and the socalled daca children are left in the lurch. I think that will be a real fear for democrats and immigration activists. Susan moving on to the issue of guns, schools, and public safety, the chairman seemed as though he kept pushing Mental Illness as a root cause and state and local official responsibility. Is that generally the republican stance, and do you see that with the number of School Shootings we have seen already in 2018 . Alan i think it is really interesting. In the last 24 hours, secretary thomas called devos called for hearings in congress. Secretary mnuchin did not oppose them. We just heard from representative goodlatte that it is not inappropriate, as he put it, for the government to spend more time looking at it. I think that is very different from what we are used to. It is not the time, we need time to get away from this lets not politicize , it. To hear voices saying that they are not opposed to hearings or studies coming from the government on this to me seems like a step we havent seen before. Of course, we are focusing more on the Mental Health side, not so much the gun ownership side. It is a step, not a big one, but a step. Scott what took me by surprise was he suggested that states look at the age limitation. In this case of parkland, florida, he purchased the ar15 when he was just 18 years old. I guess that is the case in many states around the country. He could not even buy a case of beer. I think that is something maybe states will start to look at especially in the wake of , parkland. I will note, in the wake of the las vegas tragedy, there was a lot of bipartisan talk about legislation to curb the socalled bump stock, and nothing in these last few months has moved on bump stocks. Theres been no legislation. Theres been no action by the atf and its sort of like once , it was once that issue was out of the newspaper headlines, just to follow up on that, its states right now, florida is not the place where youre going to get much gun restrictions. Its controlled by republicans in the congress and governor rick scott. What weve been seeing out of the current legislative session down there are efforts to make it easier to purchase firearms, rather than making it harder. So the idea that that state is one thats going to respond to this by suddenly making it harder to purchase guns is, i think, a little farfetched. We have 30 seconds. One question about the white house and rob porters resignation and f. B. I. Background checks, where do you see the rob porter story going with regard to oversight . Well, its interesting that trey gowdy, the oversight chairman, surprised a lot of people this week by announcing was conducting hearings into rob porter and the white houses handling of his employment, especially related to whether, you know, the concerns about his security clearance were, you know, raised to the highest levels. Apparently, there was some discussion from the white house chief of staff and others high up in the administration. And so, you know, goodlatte said he supported trey gowdy. The speaker also endorsed his rights to it, yeah. I think you could say it is the first real oversight we are seeing of the trump thenistration separate from Russian Investigation which is very convoluted. It will be distinct to seek this as it unfolds. I would note, of course, that trey gowdy is retiring, so he doesnt have to worry about any sort of political backlash from the president of the United States. That may be one reason why he feels free to pursue this course of action. Representative goodlatte too. Well see how this plays out. Thanks, gentlemen, for your questions and for being on newsmakers this week. Thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] cspans history. Landmark cases season to beginning february 26 at 9 00 p. M. With the significant case heard in 1918. Exploring this is an executive andpresser professor sarah peterson. Watch landmark cases alive at at 9 00 p. M. Ry 26 eastern on cspan, cspan. Org or the free radio app. Order the companion book which. S available for 8. 95 for an additional resource, there is a link on our website to the National Constitution centers interactive constitution. Supreme Court JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg talked about the Metoo Movement and other movements over the last century. Justice ginsburg interviewed at is the National Constitution center in philadelphia. This is 90 minutes. [applause] rabbi holtzblatt good evening. I am ted krueger, the dean of the law school