Rep Garrett with two vets at the Glen Rock street fair . These two gentlemen were at the fair representing the VFW. Join me in thanking them for their service to our country!
Rep Scott Garrett crusade against “for-profit policing” gains traction October 6th 2014 the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, In September Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), and Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), introduced H.R. 5502, the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, to protect Americans from having their property seized without the due process of law. The FAIR Act makes a number of changes to civil asset forfeiture laws to restore the constitutional protections guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
Recently unconstitutional civil asset forfeiture or Policing for profit has started to gain traction with the media .
Garrett said “I’m glad to see that more people are starting to draw attention to civil asset forfeiture laws. My bill, the FAIR Act, would protect Americans from unconstitutional civil asset forfeitures.”
Learn more here: https://1.usa.gov/1s6Yg99
John Oliver rips into the scandal of for-profit policing Updated by Timothy B. Lee on October 6, 2014, 9:40 a.m. ET [email protected] In America, people are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Yet a crazy loophole in US law has allowed the police to take billions of dollars worth of property from ordinary Americans without even charging them with a crime.
John Oliver explains how this scheme, known as civil asset forfeiture, works:
With one month until Election Day, Republicans’ chances for retaking the Senate and picking up seats in the House are improving.
The GOP has been buoyed by positive public polling, while red-state Democrats are still struggling to find distance from President Obama. There are bright spots and even some unexpected new targets on the map for both parties, but the overall national environment seems to have ticked a bit toward Republicans.
The GOP needs to win a net of six seats to retake control of the Senate, and Republicans seem better-positioned to do so now than they did through much of the summer.
Democrats must hold their own for a decent election night, and they’re putting their faith in their vaunted ground game for the final stretch.
Both sides say control of the upper chamber is still very much at play, and Republicans certainly aren’t taking a victory lap just yet.
“The Senate is up for grabs and the outcome is far from certain,” said Paul Lindsay, spokesman for the pro-GOP American Crossroads. “There’s a lot of encouraging signs in many states and a good progression for us in many states. But at the same time many of these races are still up for grabs.”
Rep. Scott Garrett Reminds everyone that October marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Rep Scott Garrett
October 2,2014
Rep. Scott Garrett Reminds everyone that October marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. While most people are aware of breast cancer, many forget to take the steps to have a plan to detect the disease in its early stages and encourage others to do the same. Take a few minutes to learn more here:
Reps. Garrett and Cárdenas Introduce Bipartisan FAIR Act to Protect Americans from Unconstitutional Civil Asset Forfeitures
Sep 17, 2014
Bill is House Companion to Sen. Rand Paul’s Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman of the Congressional Constitution Caucus, and Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Co-Chairman of the bipartisan Crime Prevention and Youth Development Caucus, today introduced H.R. 5502, the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, to protect Americans from having their property seized without the due process of law. The FAIR Act makes a number of changes to civil asset forfeiture laws to restore the constitutional protections guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
“Most Americans assume that the government cannot take your things without due process, but it is happening,” said Garrett. “Under current law, federal, state and local police can seize your property unless you can prove you acquired it legally. This must change. The FAIR Act will protect our constitutional rights and save American families from a costly and messy legal process to regain what is legally theirs.”
“Two principles that we as Americans hold dear are innocent until proven guilty; and that the government may not seize our property without just cause,” said Cárdenas. “Satisfying a profit motive must never be the reason for law enforcement, and it certainly must never be allowed to support the seizure of personal property by those who we trust to protect and defend our nation and our Constitution.”
The FAIR Act would ensure that Americans are innocent until proven guilty by requiring the government to meet a higher legal standard before seizing an individual’s property. This legislation would raise the standard to seize assets from a preponderance of evidence to a higher standard of clear and convincing evidence. In addition, the FAIR Act would eliminate the practice of equitable sharing and eliminate all profit incentives by requiring that all funds seized by the federal government go into the general treasury fund.
Click here for a one-page explanation of the bill, and click here for a section-by-section summary.
To read the Washington Post’s three-part series on civil asset forfeitures, click here.
Rep Scott Garrett Hits Back on IRS’ Non-Answers
Sep 18, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman of the Congressional Constitution Caucus, along with six of his colleagues sent a follow-up letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen today after the IRS Commissioner refused to address a number of concerns the Members have about news of the recent IRS dismissal agreement with the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
Within 30 days of receiving the letter, the Members requested that the following be provided:
Any communications, from July 1, 2012 to the present, regarding the subject matter of my August 25th letter, including any documents related to, or relevant to the Freedom from Religion Foundation, PARC, or the Johnson Amendment. You should regard relevancy as broadly as federal law permits, including, but not limited, to any internal communications, communications with outside groups, communications with the White House or other executive branch agencies.
Any communications or documents, from August 25th to the present, related to preparing your response to my August 25th, 2014 letter including, but not limited to, any internal communications, communications with outside groups, communications with the White House or other executive branch agencies.
Any communications or documents, from July 1, 2012 to the present, related to the activities of PARC and the 99 religious organizations under investigation that are referenced in your September 5th letter. Where necessary to preserve the confidentiality of the taxpayers under investigation, you may redact confidential taxpayer information or other information that may specifically distinguish the taxpayer. Your response should include all relevant communications and documents including, but not limited to, any internal communications, communications with outside groups, communications with the White House or other executive branch agencies.
Where necessary, to preserve attorney-client privilege, you may redact privileged information and provide a standard privilege log.
Please provide the names and positions of all people who spent any time as part of, or on behalf of, PARC.
Also, a number of previous questions (asked in my August 25th letter) remained un-answered and can be addressed by you, rather than the Department of Justice.
Please provide answers to questions 4, 5 & 6 from our previous letter dated August 25, 2014.
Click here to read the full letter.https://garrett.house.gov/sites/garrett.house.gov/files/20140918%20-%20Letter%20to%20IRS.pdf
Congressman Scott Garrett Issues a Congratulations thru the Ridgewood Blog to Charlotte Samuels completion of the open water triple crown September 13,2014 the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Charlotte Samuels, 16, who became the youngest person to complete the Triple Crown of open-water swimming last week by crossing the English Channel.
Charlotte attained the Triple Crown of open-water swimming by circumnavigating Manhattan, and crossing California’s Catalina Channel and the English Channel, all during this summer.
Rep Scott Garrett ,took time out of his schedule to give us a call to congratulate Charlotte Samuels on her fantastic accomplishment . The congressman spoke eloquently congratulating Charlotte for all the hard work and perseverance and also congratulated Charlotte’s parents, Suzanne and Steven for all their hard work and support without which this could never happen .
Garret remarked it was an awe inspiring accomplishment for this young lady and that her efforts were setting and example for a whole generation .
Every year on September 11, our country wakes up with a heavy heart. We relive our painful memories, and we come together to mourn the thousands of innocent lives we lost on that terrible day.
Like so many of you, I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of the attacks. My thoughts immediately turned to all those—family, friends, neighbors—who were working in New York City. Before long, I too was consumed by the enormous void that was left by the tragic loss of life. When I remember, I still feel the deep sadness, anger, and resolve I felt on that day and the days that followed.
As a nation, we must always remember that our freedom isn’t free. There are evil forces who wish to destroy our way of life. We must remain alert to all threats to our freedom wherever they arise. Thanks to our armed forces and our first responders, we will defend ourselves and bring to justice all those who seek to destroy us.
Today, I join you as we remember those we lost and pray for those who fight to protect our freedom. We will continue to recover, but we must never forget. May God continue to bless the United States of America.
Rep Scott Garrett Statement on the Obama Administration’s Decision to Spread Too-Big-To-Fail to more companies Sep 4, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, issued the following statement regarding today’s Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) decision to spread too-big-to-fail:
“Today’s irresponsible and inappropriate designation of another U.S. business as too-big-to-fail only strengthens my resolve to reform the out-of-control FSOC. First and foremost, we must ensure taxpayers are not on the hook for FSOC’s dangerous regulatory overreach. This designation flies in the face of a unanimous, bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives to postpone any additional designations.
“The FSOC makes politically motivated decisions to expand the Fed’s power with little-to-no real-world analysis. To make matters worse, the FSOC refused to even provide today’s designee with the same minimal level of review that the Council provided for asset management companies. It is obvious that the FSOC refuses to improve its operations, conduct, or decision-making processes. Accordingly, it is incumbent upon Congress to help FSOC improve itself. I look forward to having members of the FSOC come before the Committee in the near future to explain today’s actions.”
Rep Scott Garrett Says with immigration reform his first priority is to his constituents
“Our immigration process is broken and overly complex. I agree that we need to fix it. As an elected official, my first priority is to my constituents. I am first going to look out for their interests by enforcing our laws. I am first going to make certain that they are safe by advocating for policies that prioritize our national security interests. And I am first going to lay the groundwork for robust economic and education systems for them.
Unfortunately, the administration’s actions—refusing to enforce our current laws—are putting our citizens last, not first. The House has taken steps to change this by addressing the crisis at the border. This bill would better secure the border, assist our border patrol agents in their law enforcement duties, and expedite the judicial processing and deportation of illegal migrants. As this immigration debate continues, we must follow today’s actions with a broader, step-by-step approach to our immigration problems, where securing our borders, fixing our legal immigration system, and putting the American people first are the chief priorities.”
CD 5 race: Bergen GOP Chairman Yudin challenges Cho, national Dems on Israel
By Mark Bonamo | August 14th, 2014 – 2:31pm
HACKENSACK – Some observers may claim that Congressional candidate Roy Cho’s recent trip to Israel was a step beyond what most first-time candidates do. But Bergen Republican Chairman Bob Yudin’s response to the Democrats’ Fifth Congressional District candidate’s visit to Israel was that Cho is out of step with the national Democratic Party.
“Mr. Cho is completely out of step with the rank and file of the Democratic Party. The majority of the rank-and-file Democrats are not supporting the way Israel is defending itself from Hamas terrorists,” Yudin told PolitickerNJ in reference to the ongoing conflict along the frontier of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip that began with a wave of rocket attacks. “The polling data clearly shows that.”
Yudin referred in part to a Gallup poll released last month that indicated that 65 percent of Republicans asked thought Israel’s actions in the current Middle East conflict are justified, with 21 percent believing they are unjustified and the rest expressing no opinion. Of the Democrats polled, 31 percent thought that Israel’s actions were justified, with 47 percent believing they are unjustified and the rest expressing no opinion.
Yudin, whose son and grandson have served in the Israeli Defense Forces, also referred to a report in the Wall Street Journal that indicated that the United States government had put the sending of a batch of Hellfire missiles to Israel meant to aid in the country’s defense on hold.
“President [Barack] Obama is now insisting on holding back armaments that Israel is using to defend itself to pressure Israel into negotiating with the terrorist Hamas organization. It is clear that the Democratic Party does not support Israel’s right to defend itself,” Yudin said. “[Incumbent U.S. Rep.] Scott Garrett (R-5) and the rest of the Republican Party support Israel 100 percent.”
Yudin also noted that Garrett, a six-term incumbent, has a “positive and responsive” relationship with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the prominent pro-Israel lobbying group.
“We’ve got a Republican congressman that not only says that he supports Israel, he practices it,” Yudin, an AIPAC member, said. “We’re talking about the survival of Israel. That’s an important issue. Mr. Cho says he’s for Israel, but his party is not for Israel, and his president is not for Israel.”
Cho, in an interview with PolitickerNJ on Wednesday immediately after his return from his 60-hour-long trip to Israel, refuted Yudin’s views.
“The way in which [Yudin] describes Scott Garrett’s relationship with Israel is problematic, and almost dangerous in a way,” Cho said. “Just because one member of Congress, who happens to be an incumbent, has shown strong support for Israel, regardless of his intentions or motivations, that doesn’t mean that me as a challenger cannot show as strong as support for Israel.
“Hamas has to make a decision as to who they are – are they a terrorist organization, or are they a government that we can negotiate with? Intentionally embedding itself within their own civilian population while they are fighting this war shows that they are not ready,” Cho continued. “My cultural values are those of somebody who grew up in New Jersey and who identifies with the Jewish culture broadly, as well somebody who understands the foreign policy importance of our relationship with Israel. This is an important issue to me regardless of what Scott Garrett or Bob Yudin happens to think about this particular situation. We need leadership in D.C. that is able to connect the dots.”
Rep Scott Garrett’s gas tax bill is stuck in neutral
AUGUST 3, 2014, 10:33 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2014, 10:56 PM BY HERB JACKSON RECORD COLUMNIST THE RECORD
A last-minute bill that passed Congress last week closed a looming shortfall in the federal highway trust fund, ensuring that money from Washington continues flowing to states for road, bridge and transit projects through next May, instead of drying up later this month.
The stopgap bill, needed because gas taxes no longer raise enough money to support highway and transit spending, relies on several gimmicks, including increasing a customs fee in 2024 and spending all that “revenue” over the next 10 months.
But the long-term transportation financing would have been different if Rep. Scott Garrett, one of just two Republicans who opposed the bill on Thursday, had his way.
Instead of states sending money to Washington and waiting to see what comes back, Garrett, R-Wantage, would give states the option to keep the 18.4-cent federal gas tax paid within their borders and decide how to spend it without federal oversight.
“We would not have to literally beg Washington to get our own money back,” Garrett said in a brief interview last week. “We would not have to be limited or restricted on the purposes. If we felt the money should be used over here and Washington says ‘over there,’ we could spend it where we felt the people of New Jersey need it the most.”
What is not clear is whether New Jersey would want to take that option if it were available. Governor Christie’s office did not respond when asked it wanted to opt out of federal financing.
Rep Scott Garrett Reminds Us to Suport NJ Animal Shelters and Adopt a Pet July 23,2014
There were lots of (very cute) adoptable pets at the Capitol today.
Just a reminder, be sure to support your local shelters. In New Jersey, our shelters are doing a great job of trying to find new homes for our furry little friends.
Rep Scott Garrett Marks the Fourth Anniversary of Dodd-Frank reminding us of the burden it puts on American taxpayers for endless Wall Street bailouts. Jul 21, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, issued the following statement today to mark the four year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act:
“It’s been four years since President Obama signed Dodd-Frank into law and our economy’s anemic growth since that time is just one example of why it is ineffective. In addition to holding back the economy, Dodd-Frank also puts unsuspecting American taxpayers on the hook for endless Wall Street bailouts. The sad news is that the consequences of this heavy-handed law continue to creep into every U.S. industry. Now more than ever, we need solutions that address the real issues behind the 2008 financial collapse, protect taxpayers, and ensure that the U.S. continues to have the most robust capital markets in the world.”
Rep. Garrett Calls for Retraction from White House Over Recent Comments about Israel’s Commitment to Peace
Jul 10, 2014
Co-Sponsors Resolution Supporting Israel’s Right to Defend Itself
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) is calling for a retraction of comments by top White House official Philip Gordon, Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf Region. In a recent foreign policy address, Gordon questioned Israel’s commitment to peace by saying: “How can Israel have peace if it’s unwilling to delineate a border [and] end the occupation…?”
“The Obama administration should immediately repudiate Mr. Gordon’s comments. As Israel defends itself against countless rocket attacks from Hamas, it shouldn’t also have to defend itself against those in the White House. While the Obama administration says it supports Israel, these comments obviously stand in stark contrast to that commitment and must be retracted. My heart goes out to those who have been the victims of these attacks. I wholeheartedly support our greatest friend and ally in the Middle East as they seek to eliminate those who are perpetrating this violence.”
This week, Congressman Garrett co-sponsored H. Res. 657, a resolution that reaffirms the United States’ support for Israel’s right to defend its citizens and ensure the survival of the State of Israel, condemns the unprovoked rocket fire at Israel, and calls on Hamas to immediately cease all rocket and other attacks against Israel.
Rep. Garrett (right) congratulates Haworth resident Chris Giancarlo for being sworn-in as the Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Garrett Congratulates Haworth Resident Giancarlo for Taking Top-Spot at the CFTC Jun 25, 2014
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) congratulated Haworth resident Chris Giancarlo for being sworn-in as the Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. yesterday morning.
“Chris has a long history of promoting sound regulatory policy, free markets and economic liberty,” said Garrett at the ceremony. “I know he will bring a steady hand, common sense, and strong leadership to the Commission. His deep understanding of our derivatives markets make him an ideal choice for serving at the Commission as it continues to implement difficult and complex rules that will have a significant impact on farmers, ranchers, and producers. Very few people know these markets as well as Chris, and his expertise will come in handy as the Commission faces markets that continue to shift and evolve.”
Giancarlo was sworn in as a CFTC Commissioner on June 16, 2014 for a term expiring on April 13, 2019. Giancarlo was nominated by President Obama on August 1, 2013. On March 6, 2014, Giancarlo testified regarding his nomination before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, which approved the nomination on April 8, 2014. The U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination by unanimous consent on June 3, 2014.
