Today, at a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on H.R. 1932, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) criticized the bill as a massive, unconstitutional expansion of the government’s ability to detain immigrants for many years—even indefinitely—with little or no procedural protections at all.“It is ironic that this bill comes from the Judiciary Committee leadership that should be prote... Read more »
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) commended Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for granting his request for an extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti nationals. Effective July 23, 2011, the extension will allow eligible Haiti nationals to remain in the U.S. for an additional 18 months and expand TPS designation to H... Read more »
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) joined Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) in introducing H.R. 1896, the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Improvements Act of 2011. The proposal would establish legislative authority for the COPS Office at the Justice Department to: administer grants for the hiring of police officers and deputy sheriffs, reestab... Read more »
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) introduced H.R. 1899, the “Oil Consumer Protection Act of 2011,” to subject the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to U.S. antitrust laws, prohibiting oil and gas companies from unilaterally withholding gasoline supply to create a shortage, with the intent of raising prices.“You do not have to look very h... Read more »
Today House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) commended U.S. Justice Department Attorney General Eric Holder for extending the tenure of FBI Director Robert Mueller for an additional two years. First nominated by former President George W. Bush on September 4, 2001, Director Mueller’s 10-year term was set to expire later this year.“Although I have disagreed with Direct... Read more »
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) has introduced the “USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2011,” the House counterpart to a bipartisan bill that recently passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. The proposal makes meaningful improvements to the PATRIOT Act and related authorities, and has the support of the Obama Administration and the intelligence community. T... Read more »
Today, Reps. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) and Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) released a GAO report confirming reports that mortgage servicers had been fraudulently signing or notarizing affidavits allowing the completion of foreclosures without any personal knowledge of the cases, a process more commonly referred to as "robo-... Read more »
Today, the Republican House Majority voted to limit women’s access to affordable health care, by a vote of 251-175. On the House Floor, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) led the Democrats in the debate against H.R. 3, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act,” denouncing the bill as a government intrusion on women’s private health care decisions. Below is an excerpt ... Read more »
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement regarding allegations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers working out of the Detroit Field Office are regularly violating constitutional and civil rights guarantees and ignoring ICE’s own policies and priorities. “The allegations of abuse and legal violations raised by the... Read more »
