United States House of Representatives

“ I come from Michigan, where countless of my fellow citizens have lost
their jobs and many have also lost their health care. The resolution
that we are considering today will not create one job. It will not help
one person get health care for their family. It will do nothing to
allay the concerns of seniors who are worried about their Medicare. It
will do nothing to get our economy moving again. It will simply inflame
a debate that should have been over when President Obama accepted Joe
Wilson's apology.
We can do better. The American people can do better. ”

“ Why the freedmen of African descent should become these marked objects of special legislation, to the detriment of the unfortunate whites, your committee fail to comprehend. The freedmen when under the control of their former masters were taught to till the soil, to act as teamsters, boatmen, cooks; and many of them learned the mechanical branches of trade, rendering them not only capable of earning a livelihood, but becoming a source of revenue to their masters. ”

“ How serious of a national security risk is it to have the national security advisor lying about his contacts with a foreign government adversary to the FBI and the American people?
Mr. Comey. Mr. Cummings, I don't think I can answer the last part of that question because it touches on the work of the special counsel.
I can answer the first part, which is, the reason it's a big deal is you have an adversary nation attacking America. If Americans in our country are assisting them, it's aiding and abetting the enemy in attacking our country. ”

“ It is the Democrat leadership, in their rush to pass a very bad
government health care plan, that is bad medicine for America. It has
muzzled the voices we represent and provoked partisanship.
When we are done here today, we will not have taken any steps closer
to helping more American families afford health insurance or helping
small businesses create new jobs.
The challenges our Nation faces are far bigger than any one Member of
this House. It is time that we move forward and get to work for the
American people. ”

“ How easy is it to make prerecorded digital music that will affect the SCMS in a way to prevent copying altogether? To what extent will individuals have an incentive to devise ways to prevent copying altogether? Using the Serial Copy Management System, the information to prevent multi-generational copying is not encoded in the audio portion of the digital signal. In an earlier approach to copy protection, certain types of music could falsely indicate that copyright protection existed where none did. ”

“ In the tweet I read, President Trump appears to be directly demanding that the Department of Justice launch an investigation into his political opponents. You've already stated the answer to a request like that would be hell no. And why is that, Mr. Comey?
Mr. Comey. Because that represents the final corruption and destruction of our system of justice. If we start investigating people by fiat from the leader because of their political affiliation, what are we anymore, which is why it has been so dispiriting not to see both sides of the political aisle react to this with shock and loud voices. ”

“ Since featured recording artists are defined as "interested copyright parties," they may receive directly their royalties, enter into negotiated arrangements for royalty distribution under section 1007 (a) (2) , and sue for violations of the Act. The term "featured recording artist" is not defined since it is a term of art in the industry. Generally, however, the term includes instrumentalists, vocalists, conductors, narrators, or other persons who play in, sing, or otherwise perform a musical work or sound recording. ”

“ A proposition to establish a bureau of Irishmen's affairs, a bureau of Dutchmen's affairs, or one for the affairs of those of Caucasian descent generally, who are incapable of properly managing or taking care of their own interests by reason of a neglected or deficient education, would, in the opinion of your committee, be looked upon as the vagary of a diseased brain. ”

“ A "digital audio interface device" is any machine or device, now known or later developed, whether or not included with or as part of some other machine or device, that is designed specifically to communicate a "digital audio interface signal" to a digital audio recording device, and that supplies a digital audio signal through a "nonprofessional interface", as those terms are used in the Digital Audio Interface Standard in part I of the technical reference document or as otherwise defined by the Secretary of Commerce under section 1022 (b) . ”

“ Mr. Comey. The FBI doesn't investigate people to find any crimes.
Mr. Ratcliffe. I didn't say investigate people, but in the course of investigating if you become aware of things that cause concern to investigators, like you've expressed you had, isn't there an obligation to pursue that?
Mr. Comey. Hard to answer in the abstract. Depends upon what the facts were that you had. But sure, if you develop facts in the course of an investigation of the possible commission of another crime, in almost all circumstances, you follow up on it. ”

“ The American people are saying enough is enough; enough of the
politics here in Washington, enough of the spending, enough of the big
government takeover. And yet, here we are on the floor of the House
today debating a resolution that should not be here, putting a man's
name in the record books of disapproving of his behavior.
The gentleman from South Carolina admitted that he had made a
mistake; he called the President and apologized. And yet, here we are
on the floor of the House of Representatives debating a resolution
describing his behavior. I think it's wrong. ”

“ How much of a price increase can consumers expect for each recorder and medium? The legislation provides that the royalty rate of 2% for a digital audio recorder would be calculated on the "transfer" price, generally the wholesale price of the recorder. The legislation sets a minimum royalty of $1.00 on all digital audio recorders and places an $8.00 cap on the royalty for single drive recorders, and a cap of $12.00 for dual drive devices. The royalty rate for digital audio recording media is set at 3% of the transfer price without any minimum or maximum amount. ”

“ But if it is to be converted into a grand almshouse department, whereby the labor and property of the white population of the country is to be taxed to support the pauper labor of the freedmen and mendicant officials of the country, its operations cannot be too closely scrutinized.
The government have as yet been rather unfortunate in their efforts in behalf of the freed slaves, and it seems to your committee to be very desirable that legislation upon this subject, if it can be done legally, should be confined to the absolute existing wants of the country. ”

“ Mr. Comey. No, and I've been hearing that for 30 years. Crimes that involve investigation -- that involve attacks on the criminal justice system, perjury, false statements, obstruction of justice, jury tampering, are things -- are statutes that Congress passed to protect the core of this country's rule of law, and so I never think of them as process crimes. They're serious and important Federal crimes.
Ms. Plaskett. And how important do you think it would be if the President of the United States attempted to impede a criminal investigation into his associates or his campaign? ”