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July 11, 2024
The House issued a subpoena ordering the Attorney General to produce the audio recording of the Robert Hur interview with President Biden. The administration based its decision not to prosecute Mr. Biden on Hur’s assessment that a jury would view him sympathetically as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Meanwhile, the same administration is vigorously attempting to jail President Trump for the same offense. Knowing the full context of this interview requires all of the non-verbal cues that a written transcript cannot fully and faithfully reproduce. This understanding is essential to inform the House whether a double standard is being applied and what statutory changes may be necessary to correct it. The Attorney General has defied the House subpoena, making specious claims of executive privilege that are certain to be struck down by the courts. The House has held the Attorney General in contempt, but the Department of Justice that he heads refuses to prosecute him. This produces a second glaring double standard, since that same Justice Department has already prosecuted and jailed two Trump administration officials for the same offense. To enforce its subpoena, the House is pursing the matter in court in order to obtain a ruling on the legality of the Attorney General’s refusal to comply. This is the appropriate response, and the same process that ultimately compelled Richard Nixon to turn over tape recorded conversations in the Watergate investigation. Nevertheless, a resolution proposing to invoke “Inherent Contempt” against the Attorney General was brought to the floor. It levies a fine against the Attorney General of $10,000 a day until he complies. “Inherent Contempt” is an established – although seldom used -- power that Congress holds to defend its own proceedings, including the issuance of subpoenas. Under several Supreme Court decisions, this allows the House to arrest individuals and bring them to the bar of the House to answer for their conduct. The last time the House invoked this power was in 1934. This resolution is a gross misuse of this power and I oppose it.
June 3, 2024
Washington, D.C. – Legislation to honor Corporal Michael D. Anderson Jr. passed the United States House of Representatives today. The bill, H.R. 1555, introduced by Rep. McClintock (CA-05), will designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2300 Sylvan Avenue in Modesto, California, as the "Corporal Michael D. Anderson Jr. Post Office Building”. Corporal Anderson was a native of Modesto, California. After the September 11 terror attacks, he bravely answered his nation’s call to service by enlisting in the Marine Corps. He became a member of the Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams, or FAST Company. On December 14, 2004, Corporal Anderson was tragically killed in action while clearing a stronghold in Fallujah, Iraq.
June 3, 2024
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-05) today delivered remarks on the House floor discussing the weaponization of the judicial system. The American Justice system has always been the pride of our nation and the envy of the world. In America, justice is portrayed as blindfolded, because it doesn’t matter whether those who seek it are rich or poor, weak or powerful, Republican or Democrat. Equal justice under law means exactly that: everyone is treated the same. It is this central principle that gives the law its moral authority. Without it, law simply becomes raw force, devoid of legitimacy. Respect for the law breaks down, and without that respect, civilization gives way to the law of the jungle. This is the well-trodden path to tyranny, taken by many nations through history. We Americans have always believed that it can’t happen here. And yet, it HAS happened here, and we are watching it in real time. The turning of the law against our democracy began with the IRS harassment and intimidation of the Tea Party movement during the Obama Administration. One of the principal players was the same Jack Smith that the Biden administration tasked to pursue federal charges against Mr. Biden’s political opponent.
May 16, 2024
Washington, D.C. – Today, during House floor debate on H.R. 8369 the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, Congressman McClintock delivered the attached remarks in support of the measure. Mr. Speaker: On December 8, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt stood in this very hall and asked for a Declaration of War against the government that attacked our fleet the day before at Pearl Harbor and he solemnly pledged to win through to “absolute victory.” On October 7th, Hamas targeted and butchered innocent and unarmed women and children. Israel not only has a right to defeat Hamas – it has a moral duty to do so. The killing on both sides can only end with the unconditional surrender of Hamas. The sooner that day comes, the better for all humanity. To hasten that day, the President requested, and the Congress provided the precision bombs and other munitions that Israel needs to quickly bring this war to an end while minimizing civilian casualties. And now, that same president is withholding that aid while sending billions of dollars of supplies into Gaza before Hamas has surrendered. This act is treacherous, and it must not stand. This measure says so.
April 20, 2024
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-05) today delivered the following remarks on the House floor:
Mr. Speaker:
Ukraine and Israel are in growing danger of running out of arms and ammunition while China casts a hungry eye on Taiwan. History warns us of allowing aggression to grow unchecked and of how quickly events in an unstable world can unravel
Profligate spending is exhausting our resources and damaging our economy, but as Reagan reminded us, defense is not a budget issue. You spend what you need to spend – and although the defense of these besieged nations is one step removed from our own – it would be good to keep it that way.
I regret that the three military aid bills are larded up with $20 billion of economic handouts, but we’re out of time and out of options. I’m afraid it is the price we now have to pay for months of dithering in this House. Without these bills today, we and the world risk a future butcher’s bill that is incalculable.
April 20, 2024
This bill is a collection of several minor bills I support, including greater reporting of Fentanyl traffic and Iranian human rights violations, and tightened sanctions on Iranian oil and weapons exports. But it also includes two major provisions that I cannot support. One is the ban on TikTok, which I believe is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. The other is the REPO act, that would seize sovereign Russian assets. This would be an unprecedented peacetime act and runs a high risk of discouraging foreign investments in the United States, particularly U.S. Treasury notes. These provisions set very dangerous precedents.
April 12, 2024
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-05) today delivered the following remarks on the House floor. Mr. Speaker: I don’t discount the mounting dangers we face from enemies abroad. But we also cannot discount the dangers we face at home from the very powers this bill would continue. The FBI abused these powers 278,000 times in a single year and turned them against American citizens: searching for January 6th and Black Lives Matter rioters, probing political donors and even piercing congressional offices. John Adams believed that indiscriminate searches by British officials became the first spark of the American revolution. Having lived under such a tyranny, the Founders protected us with the Fourth Amendment. Before authorities can search through our records, they have to get a warrant from an independent judge by showing probable cause to suspect we’ve committed a crime. There are many excellent reforms in this bill that I applaud. But they largely depend on these agencies policing themselves, and experience warns us that’s just not enough. Without a warrant requirement, I fear these powers will once again be turned against our fundamental liberties and -- these days -- that scares me as much as a terrorist attack.
March 13, 2024
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-05) delivered the following remarks on the House floor. Mr. Speaker: Do we really want to give the President the power to declare “foreign adversaries” and then require a communications platform within them to be banned or sold to a government-approved owner? If there are data privacy concerns, we should warn consumers and trust them to make their own decisions. If there are propaganda concerns, we should defend the free and open debate that our First Amendment protects, confident that the best way to judge truth from lies is to put the two side by side and trust the people to know the difference. The last thing we should do is take that power AWAY from the people and give it to the government. The answer to authoritarianism is NOT more authoritarianism. The answer to CCP-style propaganda is NOT CCP-style oppression. Let us SLOW down before we BLUNDER down this very steep and slippery slope.
February 29, 2024
H.R. 7335 by Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-05) passed the House Judiciary Committee today. The Transparency in National Security Threats Act (H.R. 7335) requires the Attorney General in conjunction with the DHS Secretary to provide information regarding watch listed aliens encountered by DHS. It also requires that the administration make public each month the number of illegal aliens encountered at the border from each foreign country. This information is currently unavailable to the American public.
February 6, 2024
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-05) delivered the following remarks on the House floor. Mr. Speaker: Secretary Mayorkas is guilty of maladministration of our immigration laws on a cosmic scale. But we KNOW that’s not grounds for impeachment, because the American Founders specifically rejected it. They didn’t want political disputes to become impeachments, because that would shatter the separation of powers that vests the enforcement of the laws with the President – no matter how bad a job he does. Cabinet secretaries can’t serve two masters. They can be impeached for committing a crime relating to their office, but not for carrying out presidential policy. The border crisis can’t be fixed by replacing one left-wing official with another. It can only be fixed by the American people at the ballot box by replacing this administration with one committed to securing our borders, defending our country, and upholding the rule of law. Americans are already coming to that conclusion. And I’m afraid that stunts like this don’t help.