Tag: Lamar Smith

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee doesn’t plan to give a hearing to a bill that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in federal jury service, his spokesperson said this week.

Colorado Republican Congressmen Mike Coffman (CD-6) and Doug Lamborn (CD-5) have joined a hundred of their colleagues this year in sponsoring a bill to make English the official language of the United States.

An open letter from leaders of the groups Take Back Washington, Tea Party Nation, Downsize DC, GOProud, the D.C. Tea Party and other conservative groups calls on members of Congress to reject the Legal Workforce Act, a bill sponsored by U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) that would mandate the use of the electronic identification system E-Verify by all businesses nationwide.

Republicans and immigration enforcement hawks are denouncing the Obama administration’s newly announced policy of selective deportation. The policy would have the government evaluate each person currently in deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis using multiple criteria which were outlined in a memo issued by ICE director John Morton in June. Many undocumented immigrants without criminal records would be allowed to indefinitely stay in the United States and apply for work permits.

WASHINGTON-- As legislators streamed into the room around him, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, peered over his glasses at the roughly 60 people who’d come to this special hearing. “I’m glad to see this turnout so early in the day,” said Smith. (The hearing began at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday) “Today’s hearing is an opportunity for Republicans to move forward on this issue of importance to the American people.”

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn added his voice to those criticizing the White House decision to try suspected 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other suspected terrorists in a New York City civilian court. In a strongly worded statement issued yesterday, the Colorado 5th District Republican argued that New York could become a number one target for attacks during the trial, that the terrorists were enemy combatants who would be granted additional rights unnecessarily once brought onto U.S. soil and that the men could radicalize prison populations wherever they might eventually be held. In conversation with the Colorado Independent, however, the Department of Justice played down the criticism as overheated and lacking perspective.