Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (Jan. 12, 2017)- House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. joined Rep. Elijah E.

During the first weeks of the 115^th Congress, Republicans are choosing to prioritize a series of anti-regulation bills that would empower Republicans to strip critical protections away from Americans. H.R. 5, the so-called Regulatory Accountability Act, would grind the rulemaking system to a halt while inviting regulatory capture through increased input from corporate interests, waste agency resources and taxpayer dollars, and do nothing to directly help small businesses. In doing so, H.R.

I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 5, the "Regulatory Accountability Act."

Under the guise of improving the regulatory process, H.R. 5 will, in truth, undermine that process and jeopardize the ability of government agencies to safeguard public health and safety, the environment, workplace safety, and consumer financial protections.

The ways in which this legislation accomplishes this result are almost too numerous to list here, but I will mention a few.

Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker, civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Congressman Cedric Richmond will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to Senator Jeff Sessions' nomination for U.S. Attorney General. These Members are being required to testify as part of a third joint panel with non-Members of Congress and must sit through the hearing until the panel starts.

Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and House Judiciary Subcommittee Ranking Members Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Steve Cohen (D-TN), called on the United States Department of Justice and the United States Office of Government Ethics to review concerns of nepotism and conflicts of interest arising from President-elect Donald Trump's appointment of his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) joined Congresswoman Katherine Clark and Democratic members of Congress to introduce bills in the U.S. House and Senate that would require the President and Vice President to disclose and divest any potential financial conflicts of interest.

Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) along with House Judiciary Committee Democrats, joined Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15), the Ranking Member of the CIA Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD-07), the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to reintroduce the Protecting Our Democracy Act to establish an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate foreign interference in the 2016 election.

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) submitted the following statement for the Congressional Record in opposition to the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2017 (REINS Act):

Mr. Chair, H.R. 26, the "Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2017," otherwise known as the REINS Act, would amend the Congressional Review Act to require that both Houses of Congress pass and the President sign a joint resolution of approval within 70 legislative days before any major rule issued by an agency can take effect.