Matt Salmon

Mr. Speaker, every day more than 116 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. During my first tenure in Congress, I worked very closely with Dr. Sydney Elias Salmon, founding director of the Arizona Cancer Center. Together, we were able to

ensure American cancer patients received greater access to lifesaving clinical trials. Shortly thereafter, pancreatic cancer claimed his life.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth deadliest cancer in the U.S. and the only one of the four that does not have a known cure. In fact, in the last 5 years, 92 percent of those that have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer died during the first year of their diagnosis.

Sadly, pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancers for which the survival rate has not substantially improved over the last 25 years. It is time that we eradicate the scourge of cancer once and for all. We must again focus American ingenuity, dedication, and resources in the fight against cancer, particularly pancreatic and lung cancers that have lagged behind in diagnosis and survivability. It is vital that Congress champion early detection and research during the 114th Congress.

Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), the coauthor of this amendment.

Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), chairman of the full Committee on the Judiciary.

Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chairman, they say sunlight is the best disinfectant. We are trying to shed a little sunlight on some of the problems with the President's unconstitutional and illegal executive order of last year.

I am incredulous that the leader of the opposition has now encouraged the Members of the opposition to vote, en bloc, against all these commonsense amendments defending the American worker, protecting the American worker, cracking down on the molesters and sex offenders, and making sure that they don't have a haven here in America, and making sure that those who want legal immigration are the first and foremost that we consider in this process, and that those who cheated the system have to get behind those folks that are doing it legally before their paperwork can be processed.

It is incredulous that the other side would oppose such commonsense measures that I believe most of America is crying for. People are hurting out there. Maybe they haven't gotten the memo, but I think most of us have.

The other thing that is incredulous is that when you hear a lot of squealing, you know when you have hit a raw nerve; you know there is some truth to what is being spoken.

This amendment is simply a sense of Congress that we don't give a $3,000 benefit to those who have cheated the system, that we don't give a $3,000 advantage to them over hardworking, tax-paying American citizens who have been out of work for quite some time.

As we know, President Obama recently issued a series of memos that would essentially grant legal status to millions of people residing illegally within the borders of the United States. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that such action has been taken by this administration, and history has a habit of repeating itself.

Under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, up to 1.7 million individuals were granted legal status and were allowed to cut in line, being given preferential treatment over those who respected our laws and waited patiently for their immigration cases to be processed.

Furthermore, while these individuals who were given legal status under DACA were initially required to purchase health insurance under ObamaCare, they were later exempted from that requirement. With this exemption, those given legal status under DACA are not required to purchase insurance.

We just don't want that to happen again, and I would urge the other side to stand up for the American worker. That is why we are here.

Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I want to bring to my colleagues' attention an incident that occurred on November 16, 2014 in which two American rabbis and three Israeli citizens were brutally murdered in a West Jerusalem synagogue by two cousins associated with the Har Nof terrorist group.

While I appreciate the role Jordan, her government, and her people play in fighting terrorism and promoting regional stability, I am deeply disappointed at the Jordanian government's response to this sickening, ruthless act of terrorism and murder.

While the Prime Minister's office officially condemned the action and its extremist ideology, these admonishments are rendered moot when they are followed by a letter of condolence from Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour to the terrorists' family. Additionally, the Jordanian parliament not only condoned but celebrated the murders by holding

a minute of silence on the parliament floor to memorialize the perpetrators. Such mixed signals from the Jordanian government are unconscionable and counterproductive to ongoing efforts toward regional stabilization and peace.

Praising those who commit acts of terrorism promotes the culture of political violence that continually shocks the neighborhoods of East and West Jerusalem, further derailing an already strained reconciliation process at each turn. Such official endorsements send the wrong message to Jordanian citizens and Muslims worldwide, especially youth who are faced each day with the decision to turn to violence or toward peace.

The U.S. Congress must encourage the Jordanian government to stand in condemnation of such acts of violence.