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Statement of Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr.
Hearing on: Innocence for Sale: Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations
Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at 10:00 A.M.
2141 Rayburn Building
Today, media outlets reported that the White House would propose legislation that would allow the NSA to obtain individual phone records only with the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. This morning, the leadership of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence introduced legislation to end bulk collection but allows the government to continue to seize phone records without individualized judicial approval. Although neither proposal goes as far as the USA FREEDOM Act - introduced by Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), John Conyers, Jr.
Statement of Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr.
Hearing on: "Section 512 of Title 17"
Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
Thursday, March 13, 2014 at 9:30 A.M.
2141 Rayburn Building
Today's hearing provides an important opportunity for us to examine online service provider liability, and the effectiveness of section 512 of title 17 of the United States Code.
Statement of the Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
For the Floor Debate on H.R. 3973, the "Faithful Execution of the Law Act of 2014"
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
[I yield such time as I may consume]
M. Speaker: As with our consideration of H.R. 4138, the ENFORCE Act, I must note the lack of deliberative process pertaining to the consideration of this bill.
Like the ENFORCE Act, the Judiciary Committee failed to hold a single legislative hearing on H.R. 3973, the "Faithful Execution of the Law Act of 2014." Nor was there a Subcommittee markup.
Statement of the Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
In Support of Conyers Amendment to H.R. 4138, the
"ENFORCE the Law Act of 2014"
My amendment would exclude actions to combat discrimination and protect civil rights enforcement from the scope of the bill. The last thing we should want to do as a Congress is to pass legislation that makes it more difficult to protect our citizen's civil rights, by executive action or otherwise. Yet if H.R. 4138 had been law, several of the most critical civil rights milestones our nation has experienced would have been subject to unnecessary congressional challenge in the courts.
Today, the House of Representatives debated H.R. 4138 the, "Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enforcements of the Law (ENFORCE) Act." This floor debate comes on the heels of the House Judiciary Committee having held a full committee markup on the legislation and a hearing a week prior entitled, "Enforcing the president's Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws." This legislation is a faulty solution in search of imaginary problems, and has no hope of being considered in the Senate, let alone becoming law.
Statement of the Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
For Floor Debate on H.R. 4138, the "Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law Act"
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
[I yield myself such time as I may consume]
M. Speaker, the ENFORCE Act, like so many other bills we have considered this Congress, is truly a solution in search of an imaginary problem.
As was made clear during the two full committee oversight hearings that we held on the Constitution's Take Care Clause, the president has, in fact, fully met his obligation to faithfully execute the laws.
Statement of Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr.
Hearing on: Exploring Alternative Solutions on the Internet Sales Tax Issue
Full Committee
Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 10:00 A.M.
2141 Rayburn Building
Since the Supreme Court's 1992 Quill decision, Congress has considered various legislative responses. These include the Main Street Fairness Act and the Marketplace Fairness Act, which the Senate overwhelmingly passed last May. But today's hearing focuses on alternatives to those prior legislative initiatives. And, I welcome the discussion on these ideas.
Today, the Over-Criminalization Task Force, a bipartisan working group convened by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to consider reforms to the criminal justice system, held a hearing entitled "Criminal Code Reform." After delivering his opening remarks, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement:
Today, President Obama announced a new initiative called "My Brother's Keeper" to address poverty, violence and incarceration rates among young men of color. Specifically, the Obama Administration will create a new presidential task force, the "My Brother's Keeper Task Force," that will assess which federal policies are aiding young men of color and which are failing them.