Media Center

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.

I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 21, the so-called "Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2017."

This sweeping measure would empower Congress to undo virtually every regulation submitted to Congress since mid-June of last year through the end of 2016.

The bill accomplishes this end by authorizing Congress to disapprove these rules through a single joint resolution thereby depriving Members to consider the merits of each individual regulation.

H.R. 21 presents numerous concerns.

Background: House Judiciary Committee Democrats today released a letter led by former constitutional law professor and newly elected Congressman Jamie Raskin and signed by more than 35 law professors and scholars from across the country, which expresses constitutional concerns over Republican leadership's proposal to allow administrative officers to impose fines on Members of Congress for using an electronic device to photograph or record House floor proceedings.

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr.