Government Oversight

Today, ranking member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) met with Bob Bauer, the co-chair of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. This meeting comes on the heels of a report that the commission issued last month detailing how to address the many issues that plagued the 2012 presidential election specifically and the American electoral system generally. After the meeting, Ranking Member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement:

Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a full committee hearing entitled "Examining Recommendations to Reform Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Authorities." During his opening remarks, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) delivered the following statement:

Tomorrow morning, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is holding a full committee hearing entitled "Examining Recommendations to Reform Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Authorities." In anticipation of the hearing, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement:

(DETROIT) – Today, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) released a report criticizing and calling for an end to the National Security Agency's (NSA) sweeping telephone metadata collection program. The PCLOB cited the program, currently permitted under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, as having "little unique value" in investigating and preventing terrorism. This comes on the heels of President Obama's speech at the Department of Justice last Friday calling for congressional action to curb excesses in the United State's surveillance programs.

Today, ranking member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) attended President Obama's address on surveillance reform at the Department of Justice. In his remarks, the President concurred with many of the findings of the review group he convened on Intelligence and Communications Technologies-including its recommendation that the government should no longer engage in the bulk collection of telephone metadata at the National Security Agency (NSA).

Following the bipartisan tradition of the Voting Rights Act, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), joined with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) Thursday to introduce bipartisan legislation to uphold the most vital principles of the historic law. The legislation supported by a range of civil rights groups, is a bicameral, bipartisan response to the Supreme Court's Shelby County decision which struck down a core provision in the Voting Rights Act.

(DETROIT) – On Friday, the Obama administration announced two executive actions to strengthen the federal firearms background check system. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is issuing a proposed rule to clarify terminology used in prohibiting firearms purchases on the basis of certain mental health reasons.