Constitution
Text of Legislation
Amendments
Congressional Black Caucus Chair, Cedric L. Richmond, Ranking Member, House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers Jr., and CBC Judicial Nominations Working Group Chair, Eleanor Holmes Norton sent a letter to United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Chairman, Chuck Grassley, urging him to uphold the longstanding blue slip policy, which prevents the Committee from considering a judicial nominee without the approval of both Senators from the nominee's state.
Today, U.S. Department of Justice Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the House Judiciary Committee for the first time during its annual oversight hearing. Every Attorney General before Attorney General Sessions has testified before the House Judiciary Committee during their first six months of taking office. Watch the hearing on House Judiciary Democrats' Facebook page here.
Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) issued the following statement after the hearing:
Witnesses
Rabbi Baker
Director, International Jewish Affairs, American Jewish Committee
Paul Clement
Partner, Kirkland and Ellis, LLP
Today, ahead of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on November 14, 2017, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) led a letter signed by every Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Text of Legislation
Witnesses
Dr. Kathi Aultman M.D.
Fellow, AMerican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
David F. Forte
Professor of Law, Cleveland State University
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) today sent a letter to Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), calling for him to widen the scope of the investigation he launched last week with Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy into decisions made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2016, to include the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, foreign interference in American elections, and related issues.
H.R. 469 Is an Assault on Americans Health, Safety, and Privacy
H.R. 469, the "Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2017," would significantly delay the process for ensuring that statutory deadlines established by Congress are enforced to protect Americans from serious harms such as dirty air and water, unsafe products, and reckless behavior by large financial institutions.
Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. John Conyers, Jr., the Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, issued the following statement in response to an announcement that Chairmen Trey Gowdy and Bob Goodlatte are opening a partisan Republican investigation into decisions made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2016:
H.R. 732, the "Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2017," would prohibit the federal government from entering into or enforcing any settlement agreement requiring donations to remediate harms that are not "directly and proximately" caused by a wrongdoer's unlawful conduct.
I oppose H.R. 732 for several reasons.
To begin with, the bill would prohibit these types of settlement agreements even though they have been successfully used to remedy various harms, particularly those caused by reckless corporate actors.
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) issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration's issuance of two deeply troubling documents:
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 36 on a near party line vote of 237-189. H.R. 36, the so called "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" bans abortions beginning at 20 weeks after fertilization and is a direct challenge to the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.
H.R. 36, the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," is a dangerous and far-reaching attack on a woman's constitutional right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy - a right that the Supreme Court guaranteed more than 44 years ago in Roe v. Wade.
One of the most significant problems with this legislation is that it fails to include any exception for a woman's health. The bill ignores the fact that many serious health conditions often materialize or worsen late in pregnancy, including damage to the heart and kidneys, hypertension, and even some forms of hormone-induced cancer.
Fact Sheet: H.R. 36, The So-Called "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act"
H.R. 36, the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," bans abortions beginning at 20 weeks after fertilization. The bill has no health exception and only an extremely narrow exception for cases where a woman's life is endangered by a physical condition. The bill also has woefully inadequate rape and incest exceptions. By banning pre-viability abortions, H.R. 36 is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.
Witnesses
Jason H. Carter
Executive Director, Virginia Cattlemens Association
Todd F. Gaziano Esq.
Executive Director, Pacific Legal Foundation DC Center
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released the following statement in response to President Trump's continued inflammatory rhetoric urging the National Football League (NFL) to fire players for protesting racial injustice:
The House of Representatives today approved by voice vote H.R. 3229, bipartisan legislation to protect the safety of federal judges. This bill, authored by Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and a product of the House Judiciary Committee, extends the authority of the Judicial Conference to redact sensitive personal information contained in the financial disclosure reports of federal judges.
In advance of Sunday's Constitution Day, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) introduced H. Con. Res. 79, a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that it and the States should consider a constitutional amendment to reform the Electoral College and to establish a process for electing the President and Vice President by a national popular vote. The resolution also encourages the states to further their efforts to form an interstate compact to award their Electoral College votes to the national popular vote winner. Rep. Conyers released the following statement upon the bill's introduction:
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Republican Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) introduced H.R. 3771, the House companion to U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Thom Tillis' (R-N.C.) Special Counsel Integrity Act. The bill text is attached.