Press Releases
Today, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) joined with Congressman George Holding (R-N.C.) in introducing new legislation to ensure satellite and Internet radio services pay royalties they owe to legendary musicians and artists. Digital radio services today claim a legal loophole allows them to broadcast music recorded before February 15, 1972 without paying anything to the artists and labels that created it, shortchanging all music creators who were creating music before the early '70s.
Congressman George Holding (R-N.C.) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.) will hold a press conference on THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014 at NOON to introduce bipartisan legislation, the "Respecting Senior Performers as Essential Cultural Treasures" or the "RESPECT" Act. The RESPECT Act ensures older artists receive fair pay from the digital radio services that use their work.
The House of Representatives today approved by a vote of 302-121 the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361), a bipartisan bill authored by Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) that ends bulk collection of data by the government and reforms our nation's intelligence-gathering programs operated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Following the announcement of the AT&T and DirecTV proposed merger, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) issued the following joint statement:
(DETROIT) – Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) joined with six other Members of Congress urged the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, to bring more fairness to struggling students by establishing clear standards of eligibility for "undue hardship" discharge of federal student loans in bankruptcy. The members said this type of guidance would benefit the most vulnerable student loan debtors by bringing consistency to the manner in which the Department of Education's contractors handle undue hardship claims.
The House Judiciary Committee today approved by a vote of 32-0 the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361), a bipartisan bill authored by Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) to reform our nation's intelligence-gathering programs operated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), including ending the bulk collection of data.
The House of Representatives passed the strongly bipartisan H.R. 4292, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act by a vote of 388-4. By making a change to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, this legislation strengthens the ability of U.S. museums and schools to borrow foreign government-owned artwork and cultural artifacts. The bill was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on April 2, 2014.
As announced last month, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law will hold an oversight hearing on the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 8th.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) today announced that on Wednesday, May 7 at 1:00 p.m., the House Judiciary Committee will markup the USA FREEDOM Act (H.R. 3361), legislation introduced by Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) to reform our nation's intelligence-gathering programs operated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Today, Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole announced six criteria the Department of Justice will consider when reviewing and expediting clemency applications – for President Obama's review and approval – from a select group of non-violent individuals behind bars. These petitions will be prioritized for review over other clemency petitions that do not require all six criteria.