Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a full committee hearing entitled “Examining Recommendations to Reform Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Authorities.” During his opening remarks, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) delivered the following statement: “The 9/11 Commission, observing that Congress had ‘vested substantial new powers in the investiga... Read more »
Tomorrow morning, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is holding a full committee hearing entitled “Examining Recommendations to Reform Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Authorities.” In anticipation of the hearing, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement: “The public now understands that our government is engaged in widespread domest... Read more »
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives debated H.R. 7, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” on the House Floor. Consideration of this bill by the full House of Representatives comes just weeks following a U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on the legislation, and an expedited Full Committee Markup. As debate was underway on the legislation, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Co... Read more »
(DETROIT) – Today, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) released a report criticizing and calling for an end to the National Security Agency’s (NSA) sweeping telephone metadata collection program. The PCLOB cited the program, currently permitted under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, as having “little unique value” in investigating and preventing terrorism. This comes on the heel... Read more »
(DETROIT) – On this date 41 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade, affirming the constitutional right of women to make their own health care choices. In marking this historic anniversary, U.S. House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) issued the following... Read more »
Today, ranking member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) attended President Obama’s address on surveillance reform at the Department of Justice. In his remarks, the President concurred with many of the findings of the review group he convened on Intelligence and Communications Technologies—including its recommendation that the government should no longer engage in th... Read more »
Following the bipartisan tradition of the Voting Rights Act, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), joined with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) Thursday to introduce bipartisan legislation to uphold the most vital principles of the historic law. The legislation supported by a range of civil rights ... Read more »
Today, all of the Democratic women on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee – including Representatives Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Karen Bass (D-Calif.) – sent a letter to Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) urging him to shift his focus away from denying women their constitutionally guaranteed right to make their own healthcare d... Read more »
Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), along with 65 other members of Congress, wrote Ambassador Samantha Power, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), about the UN’s inadequate response to the cholera epidemic in Haiti. Specifically, the letter detailed how in October 2010, UN peacekeepers in Haiti introduced cholera to the Caribbean nation and urged the UN to take imme... Read more »
(DETROIT) – On Friday, the Obama administration announced two executive actions to strengthen the federal firearms background check system. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is issuing a proposed rule to clarify terminology used in prohibiting firearms purchases on the basis of certain mental health reasons. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing a proposed rule to... Read more »
