Nondiscretionary duty to control immigration under the immigration and nationality law. Specifically, the courts said we are not aware and have difficulty conceiving any standards for determining whether immigration control efforts by congress are constitutionally adequate. Why . Because theres an interpretation of the law and an administrative component of the law. Likewise, in heckler vs. Chainy the courts said an agencys decision not to take Enforcement Actions is unreviewable under the act because the court has no workable standard against which the judge the agencys exercise discretion. The president of the United States is instructing and giving guidance to administrative agencies who will make decisions accordingly to the framework of making sure that those who are felons are out but families are not. If you want to stop human trafficking, if you want to have a conscience in this nation, if you want to protect the vulnerable, if you want to keep young people whose bright eyes is to simply serve in the United States military or in the speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. Mr. Conyers i yield 30 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for 30 seconds. Ms. Jackson lee if you want to recognize those individuals who have come here to do what is right and if you want to stop the siege of human trafficking, as ive said, where houston is the epicenter of it, we see it every day where people are out of the shadows, if you want to do that then you will vote against this misdirected law and you will read the constitutional dictates, first from the fifth Circuit Court of appeals, then from the United StatesSupreme Court in arizona vs. The United States, and understand that the president has executive authority to do what hes just done, to be a moral keeper and to give discretion to the law. With that i yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentlelady has expired. The gentleman from virginia. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, may i inquire how much time is remaining on each side . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from virginia has 14 1 2 minutes remaining. And the gentleman from michigan has 14 1 4 minutes remaining. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, at this time its my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. Mcclintock. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Mcclintock i thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this transcends the issue of illegal immigration. The president s action has crossed a very bright line that separates the American Republic that prides itself on being a nation of laws and not of men from those unhappy regimes whose rulers boast that law is in their mouths. Its true that throughout the nations history president s have tested the limits of their authority, but this is the first time a chief executive who is charged with the responsibility to take care that the laws be faithfully executed has asserted the absolute power to nullify or change these laws by decree. Under our constitution, the president does not get to pick which laws to enforce and which laws to ignore. He does not get to pick who must obey the law and who gets to live above the law. And hes forbidden from making law himself, all legislative power herein granted shall be vested in a congress of the United States. Whether we choose to recognize it or not, this is a fallfledged constitutional crisis fullfledged constitutional crisis. If this president is allowed to stand, it will render meaningless the separation of powers and the checks and balances that comprise the fundamental architecture of our constitution that have preserved our freedom for 225 years. If this precedent stands, every future president , republican and democrat, will cite it as justification for lawmaking didecree. The measure before us is the first act of this congress to restore the balance of powers within this government. The president would be well advised to heed it before sterner measures are required. The seizure of legislative authority by the executive proved failtal to the roman republic. Now its happening in our own time. Let that not be the legacy of this administration. For more than two centuries, americans have successfully defended our constitution and now history requires this generation to do so again, which it does beginning with this measure today. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Conyers mr. Speaker mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield now two minutes to the gentleman from rhode island, member of the judiciary committee, representative cicilline. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Cicilline i thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, everyone in congress and most people in this country understands that our immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have blocked a Bipartisan Senate bill from coming to the floor, and president obama has taken action that hes legally permitted and morally obligated to take. Executive orders are not unusual. Every president since president eisenhower has used this authority to take action on immigration issues, including six republican president s. So mr. Speaker, when the gentleman from florida said voting against his bill is like voting against the constitution, i suggest its just the opposite. The contours of the executive authority of the president are defined in the constitution and by precedent of the courts and there is no question that the president has authority to exercise prosecutorial discretion in this regard. In fact, voting for this bill undermines the constitution because the executive authority of the president is set forth in the constitution of the United States. We all recognize there are 11 million undocumented citizens or residents of this country. We dont allocate resources to deport all 11 million. We allocate resources to deport about 400,000, which means by definition we are asking the department to set priorities in deciding who to deport and say those priorities makes sure they deport the most serious offenders, those that pose harm to our communities. This is whats reflected in the president s executive order. Its very important to understand that there is in fact, little question from legal scholars and id like to ask unanimous consent that a letter which has the signature of 136 law professors who support the constitutionality of this provision as well as a separate letter from additional titans in the legal community, beginning with president lee bolger from colombia university, several other legal scholars be submitted. The speaker pro tempore without objection, they will be part of the record. Mr. Cicilline mr. Speaker, the speakers executive order will ensure we have a safer country, that we will grow our economy, that we will keep families together. I strongly urge my colleagues to reject this republican proposal and to allow the president s executive order to remain. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from virginia. Mr. Goodlatte at this time im pleased to yield three minutes to mr. Barletta. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Barletta mr. Speaker, i rise in support of h. R. 5759. This bill simply says that the president cannot issue blanket amnesty. This legislation also contains language that is similar to my own bill, the defense of legal workers act. It states clearly that Illegal Immigrants who are granted executive amnesty are not authorized to work in the United States. When we talk about illegal immigration, we always hear about what we should do to help the Illegal Immigrants. What about the American Workers . Whos going to stand up for them . Theres this toxic intersection of this executive amnesty and the Affordable Care act. Under the a. C. A. Employers with 50 or more workers will have to provide Health Insurance or pay a 3,000 fine. But under the president s amnesty, the legal immigrants are exempt from the a. C. A. That means with their new work permits, the legal immigrants will be 3,000 cheaper to hire. That will drive companies to hire Illegal Immigrants instead of legal American Workers. Or worse yet, get rid of American Workers in exchange for cheaper replacements. This bill is a small step but i will vote for any bill that stops executive amnesty. That includes stopping the funding and supporting my own bill that protects American Workers. Lets remember that we have been put in this position by a president who campaigned on the slogan of, yes, we can. But the governments under the philosophy of but governs under the philosophy of, because i want. To i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Conyers mr. Speaker, im pleased to recognize the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina, mr. Price, for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from North Carolina is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Price i ask permission to revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Mr. Price mr. Speaker, i rise in strong opposition to this misguided and politically motivated legislation. In fact, it would be dangerous and irresponsible for this body to prohibit the department of Homeland Security from exercising prosecutorial discretion. D. H. S. And i. C. E. Must be able to prioritize the detention and the deportation of people who pose a threat to Public Safety and national security. As opposed to deporting, for example, College Students who were brought to this country by their parents. Or perhaps spouses of u. S. Citizens serving in the military. Its not even a close question. The reality is discretion is and always has been exercised by every prosecutor in this country. To my knowledge, republicans have never questioned this. Never challenged it. Until the current president began prioritizing dangerous criminals for immigration enforcement. As former solicitor general Walter Dillinger recently wrote, and i quoting, in light of how legally conservative the Justice Department opinion really is, it is a wonder that this issue has become the subject of such heated, occasionally apocalyptic, commentary. Those who object to the president s efforts to unite families should stop hiding behind unfounded legal allarums and debate president pes action as on the merit the president s actions on the merits. Very good advice. I urge defeat of this cynical and unwarranted legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from virginia. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, at this time its my pleasure to yield 1 1 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina, mr. Sanford. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from South Carolina is recognized for 1 1 2 minutes. Mr. Sanford i thank the chairman and i thank not only the chairman here but i thank the gentleman from florida for his hard work on this important measure. Because my dad used to say, at times in life its important to call an ace an ace. And i think that fundamentally what this bill depuzz is call an ace does is call an ace an ace with regard to cutting off and ending unilateral actions by president s, whether theyre republican or democrat. This is fundamentaly about the balance of power in our federal system. Its also important because it fits with what im hearing from a lot of folks back home when they say, this issue of Immigration Reform has less to do with immigration than it does to do with the rule of law in this country and the way in which it should be applied to all folks equally. They say that its fundamentally unfair for states to be burdened with new costs based on the unilateral action by a president. They say its fundamentally unfair for our federal entitlement system to be that much more wobbly becaused on a unilateral action by a president and they say its that fundamentally unconstitutional for the president to take action in the pattern that he has, where its with the Affordable Care act, whether its with the federal contracts, whether its with war in the middle east or now immigration. So is this enough ultimately . No, i think we ultimately need to defund the president s ability to move forward. But its important its an important first step in that basic notion of what my dad prescribed as calling an ace an ace and with that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Conyers thank you, mr. Speaker. Im pleased to yield now to the gentleman from texas, al green, for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Green thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i cannot support this legislation. And hope nobody expects me to. Mr. Speaker, im the beneficiary of the greatest executive order ever written. The emancipation proclamation. In 1863 when lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, the country was at war, it was being torn apart. Yet he signed that proclamation. While it did not liberate the slaves, it did lead to the passage of the 13th amendment in 1865. I cant agree with this legislation because truman in 1948 signed an executive order integrating the military and it went on to integrate the broader society. Because it was a part of the avantgarde efforts. And i would note that at the time he did it, the dixicrats were formed. They split from the democratic party. We have always had time of strife in this country. But great president s have always stepped forward and theyve done the right thing. Now, let me address something quickly that has to be addressed. The question of, this is a magnet, that it attracts a lot of people to the country. You cant be serious about this. If you were serious about the magnetic approach, you would have done something about wet foot, dry foot. Wet foot, dry foot allows any person to get one foot on american soil whos from cuba to come right on in and get into a pathway to legalization. Just by getting one foot. Have the other foot in the water, one on land, come on in. And that is the policy of the United States government. Youd end that if you were serious. That is a magnet. But you dont see magnets until it comes to certain people, it seems. Mr. President , i salute you for what you have done. I commend you, i stand with you on this issue. But more importantly, i stand with bringing people out of the shadows of life, into the sunshine of a new life. God bless you and i thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The chair would once again remind members to address their remarks to the chair. The gentleman from virginia. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, at this time its my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from georgia, mr. Collins, a member of the judiciary committee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Collins thank you, mr. Chairman, thank you, mr. Speaker. It is amazing again to come down to this house floor to discuss issues and to be a part of this debate. And i think one of the issues that really has to come to light here is when it is being said that what were doing is trivial, what were doing doesnt matter. Then frankly what does matter . Does the constitution matter . Does the rule of law matter . What is amazing to me, and i sat through a whole 5 1 2hour hearing the other day in dealing with this, where we use letters that were not probably used for the right context, we used other examinations, and it always came back to, in the end, if it just helps somebody its ok. The problem im having here with this is this problem. Is the ones who are coming into our country, many of them who i have spoken with, theyre coming from places where rule of law is not followed. Where rule of law is broken. And so now what do we do . They come to a country in which rule of law is being put aside. Is being expanded. Just to help, just a little bit i applaud the gentleman from florida, i applaud everyone here who is saying it doesnt matter if its a democrat or a republican. Whats right is right and thats what mat whats right is whats right and thats what hatters. It is a time for debate. Its not a time for exercising further outside the lines. It is a time in which we as a group come together and say, lets solve problems. Lets not poison the well in which we cannot have conversations and we dont have the dignity in which we have. For those who truly want to come to our country, who have done it legally, who have done it right, why would we do that . Thats whats wrong about this debate. Thats the problem were having right now. Were saying, mr. President , there are three brancheses of government and you can do whatever you want to within your side, but the congress has to do its side and it listens to the people as well. I think they spoke pretty loud and clear three weeks ago. With that, mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Conyers a thank you, mr. Speaker. Im pleased now to recognize for three minutes the distinguished gentleman from illinois, mr. Gutierrez. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from illinois is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Gutierrez mr. Speaker, i have spent the past year speaking every week in this chamber about the damaging affects of our broken immigration system on our security, our economy, our families and communities. We started with such great hope at the beginning of this congress. But here we are in the final hours of the 113th congress and instead of moving a piece of legislation that the majority would put forward to address the underlying problems with our immigration system, we have before us another symbolic, superphysical vot