Press Releases

Today, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on "Constitutional Limitations on States' Authority to Collect Sales Taxes." In the 1992 Quill Decision, the Supreme Court struck down a North Dakota law that required an out-of-state business to remit sales taxes on in-state customers because the business in question did not have a substantial enough presence in the state. However in the opinion, the Justices specifically stated that Congress is in a better position to resolve the issue and possessed the Constitutional authority to do so.

Today, the House of Representatives rejected H.J. Res. 2, a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, when the measure failed to garner the two-thirds majority vote necessary for adoption. The amendment did not include any explicit guarantees to protect Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security; would have required federal government outlays not to exceed receipts; and would have required a two-thirds super majority to raise the debt ceiling. House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) made the following statement in response to the House's action:

Today the House Judiciary Committee, without holding a single legislative hearing, began consideration of H.R. 3256, the "Deport Convicted Foreign Criminals Act of 2011." Under the bill, for every 90 day period a country does not repatriate an individual scheduled for deportation by the U.S. government, the State Department must automatically retaliate by denying visas to individuals from that country, including the spouses and minor children of American citizens, tourists, students, scientists, engineers, and other high-skilled foreign workers.

Today at a markup held by the House Judiciary Committee, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) opposed the passage of H.R. 1996, the "Government Litigation Savings Act." The bill prohibits groups and individuals seeking to protect important rights and interests threatened by unreasonable government action from recovering attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA).

Today, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) opposed the passage of H.R. 822, the "National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011." The bill overrides the laws of almost every state by requiring each to accept concealed handgun carry permits from every other state, even if the permit holder would not be allowed to obtain such a permit or carry a gun in the state in which he or she is traveling.

Today, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on H.R. 3261, the "Stop Online Piracy Act." The bill protects American jobs by modernizing criminal and civil statutes to meet new intellectual property enforcement challenges presented by the proliferation of websites dedicated to intellectual property theft and fraud. Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) made the following statement after the hearing:

Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) released the following statement regarding the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008, which the House Judiciary Committee reported to the House at the end of the 110th Congress:

Today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a hearing on "21^st Century Law Enforcement: How Smart Policing Targets Criminal Behavior." The hearing focused on racial profiling and its supposed effectiveness as a legitimate law enforcement tactic. The subcommittee heard testimony from the following witnesses: