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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).
Statement of Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr.
Floor Statement on: H.R. 3361, the "USA FREEDOM Act"
Thursday, May 22, 2014
The version of the bill pending before us today is not a perfect vehicle. There is more we can do – and must do – to ensure '[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and affects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.' But let me be clear: the compromise bill before us today is a significant improvement over the status quo. And it is a good bill.
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.
Statement of Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr.
Hearing on: Compulsory Video Licenses of Title 17
Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 2:00 P.M.
2141 Rayburn Building
Statement of Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr.
Markup of: H.R. 3361, the "USA FREEDOM Act"
Full Committee
Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 1:00 A.M.
2141 Rayburn Building
It is not an accident that the House Judiciary Committee is the committee of primary jurisdiction with respect to the legal architecture of government surveillance. We are, for the most part, lawyers. And we are prone to asking difficult questions of government officials who are not always accustomed to giving their answers in public. But we ask these difficult questions because we are the proper forum for a complex discussion about privacy and civil liberties.
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.