Press Releases
Today's hearing is the 32nd anti-regulatory hearing that we have had since the beginning of the 112th Congress. The anti-regulatory fervor of some in Congress is no doubt passionate and heartfelt.
But, as I have noted repeatedly during the 31 previous hearings we have had on this topic, regulation is vital to protecting everyday Americans from a myriad of harms. And, broad agency authority is crucial to ensuring a well-run regulatory system that promotes public health and safety, while providing certainty for business.
In the history of the Republic, the House of Representatives has voted to impeach a federal official only 19 times. I served on this Committee to consider six of those 19 resolutions. I voted in favor of five of them. And I helped to draft articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon-and joined with 20 Democrats and six Republicans-to send three of those articles to the House floor. The lessons I draw from these experiences are hard earned.
As part of the House Judiciary Committee's bipartisan criminal justice reform initiative, Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.), Crime Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Representative Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), and Representative Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) today introduced bipartisan legislation to protect Americans' property rights through civil asset forfeiture ref
The 3 bills that are the subject of today's hearing would institute a "notice and cure" requirement under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Specifically, these measures would prohibit a lawsuit from being commenced unless the plaintiff first gave the business owner "specific" notice of an alleged violation and an opportunity to fix or make "substantial" progress toward remedying such violation.
Let me begin by stating again what I stated previously when similar proposals were considered by our Committee.
Committee on the Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) and Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) unveiled the findings of a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on actions needed to reduce racial and socioeconomic segregation, and address disparities in K-12 public schools. Ranking Members Conyers and Scott, along with retired Congressman and former Ranking Member George Miller, first requested this report in May 2014.
Today, the Subcommittee on Crime will hear testimony about synthetic drugs, a problem that is primarily affecting adolescents and young adults.
I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for organizing this hearing on a very important topic. I also wish to welcome today's witnesses and express my gratitude to them for taking time to come here and offer their personal experiences and insight.
The abuse of synthetic drugs, or designer drugs, has been recognized as far back as the 1980's.
The House Judiciary Committee has announced its schedule for the week of May 16-20, 2016.\
TUESDAY, MAY 17
10:00 a.m. Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations
Hearing on: "Synthetic Drugs, Real Danger"
2141 Rayburn House Office Building
1:00 p.m. Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law
Hearing on: H.R. 4768, the "Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2016"
On Tuesday, during National Police Week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 125, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2015, unanimously by voice vote.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) joined U.S. Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) as well as legendary Four Tops founding member, Duke Fakir, T Bone Burnett, Roseanne Cash, and more than three dozen artists and musicians at a press conference in support of H.R. 1733, the Fair Play Fair Pay Act. The legislation would harmonize and modernize the outdated rules that currently govern music licensing for digital and terrestrial radio broadcasts.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13), today applauded House passage of H.R. 5046, the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016 which passed by a vote of 413-5. The Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016 authorizes $103 million per year from Fiscal Year 2017 through 2021 for the creation of the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program. The program would provide competitive grants to states and local governments to expand services that address the growing rate of opioid abuse and overdose deaths.