Constitution
Witnesses
Ms. Catherine Davis
Founding Core Member, National Black Prolife Coalition and President, The Restoration Project
Ms. Anna Higgins
Associate Scholar, Charlotte Lozier Institute
The House Judiciary Committee today approved by a vote of 28-0 the Email Privacy Act (H.R. 699) to protect Americans' privacy and public safety in the digital age.
I want to begin by thanking you, Chairman Goodlatte, and your staff, for working with us to develop the amendment before us now.
I also want to thank the members of the Digital Due Process Coalition, many of whom are represented here today, for their tireless dedication to the work of modernizing federal statute for the Internet age.
Over the last few weeks, Mr. Chairman, as we have worked out our few remaining differences on this bill, we have crafted what I believe to be an effective compromise.
In 2014, in a unanimous ruling delivered by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court concluded that the police may not search a cellphone without first demonstrating probable cause.
Citing an obvious Fourth Amendment interest in the vast amount of data we store on-and access from-our personal devices, the Court wrote:
Today, senior Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee and the chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) issued a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking the Department of Justice to review the impact of recently implanted voting restrictions across the country on primary elections.
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law (RRCAL) Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA) introduced H.R.
The House Judiciary Committee has announced its schedule for the week of April 11-15, 2016.
Wednesday, April 13
10:30 a.m. Full Committee Markup
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), and Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN) released the following joint statement applauding the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Evenwel v. Abbott to reaffirm the use of total-population data by states to draw state legislative election districts, clarifying the meaning of the "one-person, one-vote" principle:
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), together with the support of all House Judiciary Democrats, introduced a resolution (H.Res. 661) that urges the Senate to observe regular order and to give President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court full and fair consideration and an up-or-down vote.
U.S. Congressman John Conyers (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, together with 31 original cosponsors, introduced H.R. 4754, the Emergency Financial Manager Reform Act of 2016 to address unchecked decision-making powers that appointed emergency financial managers have in financially distressed cities.
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN) released the following statement after President Obama announced D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Merrick Garland as nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court:
Witnesses
Mr. Jack M. Beermann
Professor of Law and Henry Elwood Warren Scholar, Boston University School of Law
Today's Executive Overreach Task Force hearing examines whether President Obama has violated the U.S. Constitution with respect to his authority to enforce the Affordable Care Act and the immigration laws. These are both issues that the full Committee has repeatedly considered in the past and it is clear to me that the President has not violated any constitutional limitations on the exercise of his executive authority as to either of these areas.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
10:00 a.m. Executive Overreach Task Force Hearing
2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Hearing on: "Executive Overreach in Domestic Affairs Part I – Health Care and Immigration"
Witnesses:
Witnesses
Mr. James C. Capretta
Visiting Fellow, American Enterprise Institute and, Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
"At the markup for the resolution establishing the Executive Overreach Task Force, I had expressed the concern that this Task Force might be used as a platform for partisan political attacks.
"I also expressed the hope that we could work collaboratively in some areas of mutual interest, in particular those centering on strengthening Congress's ability to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch.
"I remain hopeful that there is room on this Task Force for some bipartisan cooperation.
"That being said, I also recognize that there will inevitably be areas of fundamental philosophical differences between the Majority and Minority.
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to associate myself with your comments about our jurisdiction.
"It is not an accident that the House Judiciary Committee is the committee of primary jurisdiction with respect to the legal architecture of government surveillance.
"In times of heightened tension, many of our colleagues will rush to do something, anything, to get out in front of an issue. We welcome their voices in the debate-but it is here, in this Committee room, that the House begins to make decisions about the tools and methods available to law enforcement.
"Debates about the proper scope of executive power and its relationship to legislative authority are as old as the Nation itself.
"As the Committee charged with examining issues arising under our Constitution, it is important that we regularly discuss such fundamental matters about our Nation's basic governing framework.
"Today's resolution, which would establish an 'Executive Overreach Task Force' for the next 6 months, is ostensibly the latest effort to fulfill this important obligation.
"As we move forward with the creation of this Task Force, however, we must keep several matters in mind.
Witnesses
Mr. Todd Gaziano
Executive Director of the D.C. Center, Pacific Legal Foundation
Mr. Paul Kamenar
Constitutional and Public Policy Lawyer
The House of Representatives today approved the Judicial Redress Act of 2015 (H.R. 1428) by a bipartisan vote of #-#. Introduced by Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.), the Judicial Redress Act of 2015 would strengthen partnerships with our allies and ensure continued law enforcement cooperation between the United States and Europe by giving covered foreign citizens the ability to seek judicial redress in U.S.
"I want to take a moment to walk through the events that have led up to this hearing:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8
2:00 p.m. Full Committee hearing
2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Witnesses
Last night, during an appearance on CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, admitted that he has not identified any evidence that Planned Parenthood has violated any laws:
Blitzer: "Is there any evidence in your opinion that Planned Parenthood has broken any law?"
Chaffetz: "No, I'm not suggesting that they broke the law."
Witnesses
Mr. James Bopp Jr.
General Counsel, National Right to Life
Ms. Gianna Jessen
Franklin, Tennessee