Government Oversight

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Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement concerning the shutdown of the federal government, including the federal Judiciary: “Following the election of the Republican majority to Congress in 2010, we have careened from one manufactured fiscal crisis to another. At midnight last night, House Republicans forc... Read more »

Today, further details about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance program were made public in press accounts. Specifically, it was reported that internal NSA’s reports show that the agency repeatedly ran afoul of privacy rules. Following these public revelations, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y... Read more »

Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, and Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder co... Read more »

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 232 to 183 to pass H.R. 367, the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act.” After passage of the legislation, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement: “Without question, the ‘REINS Act’ will have dangerous consequences for all Americans, chiefly by creating an unworkable approval process for regula... Read more »

Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee issued a minority staff report on, “U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s testimony before the Committee and the Justice Department’s Investigation of national security leaks.” Following the release of this report, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement: “After months of oversight work, the Minority staff report makes clear... Read more »

Today, Ranking Member John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) of the House Judiciary Committee, joined Congressman John B. Larson (D-Conn.), chairman of the Task Force on Election Reform, and Ranking Member Robert A. Brady (D-Penn.) of the Committee on House Administration, in submitting an Amicus brief to the Supreme Court regarding the upcoming McCutcheon v. FEC case. The three leading members were joined on... Read more »

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives considered H.R. 2397, the “Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2014.” Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Congressman Justin Amash (R-Mich.) offered an amendment to this legislation that would curtail the blanket collection of telephone records by the National Security Agency (NSA). During the debate over this amendment Rep. Conyers delivere... Read more »

Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a full committee markup of H.R. 1493, the "Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2013"; H.R. 2122, the "Regulatory Accountability Act of 2013"; H.R. 2542, the "Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Acts of 2013"; and H.R. 2641, the "Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development (RAPID) Act of 2013.” After his opening remarks, ... Read more »

"The Amash/Conyers amendment would ensure that Section 215 of the Patriot Act is used as Congress originally intended – to protect American citizens from terrorist threats, but not to erode our fundamental freedoms. This Amendment does not repeal Section 215. Rather, it ensures that data the NSA collects under this authority pertains to people actually under investigation, rather than to all Americans." Read more »