John Conyers in Selma for the 50th Celebration of Voting Rights

It was an honor to march in Selma last weekend with over 100 lawmakers, President Obama, and hundreds more in commemoration of Bloody Sunday - a tragic event in our nation's history that took place 50 years ago and led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Led by my dear friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, and my distinguished colleague, Rep. John Lewis, the 1965 march was a critical turning point in the quest to secure voting rights for African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement.

Voting is the very cornerstone of what defines our great Democracy. Today, I remain committed to protecting the right to vote for all Americans, as I have always been. ‪#‎Selma50‬ ‪#‎VotingRights‬ 

John Conyers at Brown Chapel in Selma

John Conyers remembering Rosa Parks

John Conyers and Congressional Members in Selma

John Conyers and Representatives in Selma

John Lewis and John Conyers in Selma

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CONYERS AND JACKSON LEE APPLAUD ACLU LAWSUIT CHALLENGING THE NSA’S “UPSTREAM COLLECTION” PROGRAMS

WASHINGTON – Today, several educational, legal, human rights, and media organizations filed suit to challenge the National Security Agency’s “upstream collection” surveillance programs, which monitor all international internet traffic by intercepting, copying and reviewing Americans’ communications en masse by intercepting telephone and internet traffic from major internet cables and switches, both foreign and domestic.

“Upstream collection” programs are conducted under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).  Section 702, last reauthorized on December 12, 2012, is next scheduled to expire on December 31, 2017.  The lawsuit, Wikimedia v. NSA, challenges “upstream collection” programs on both constitutional and statutory grounds.

In response to the filing of the lawsuit, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) released the following joint statement:

“We have long been troubled that these programs appear to sidestep the requirements of the Fourth Amendment.  There is no question that, under Section 702 of FISA, the government can and does obtain massive amounts of information about Americans without a warrant or individualized suspicion of wrongdoing.  While we appreciate that these programs provide us with valuable signals intelligence - any surveillance program must first comply with the Constitution and the underlying law.

“In the coming months, we are hopeful that Congress will pass the USA FREEDOM Act and end bulk collection under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act.  That is the necessary first step in a long struggle to roll back the power of the surveillance state and restore our civil liberties.  This case represents the next fight.  We applaud the courage of the litigants in this case, and look forward to their day in court.”

Wikimedia vs. National Security Agency’s “upstream collection” surveillance programs Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Reps. Conyers and Blumenauer Introduce Legislation Protecting Pollinators and America’s Food System

WASHINGTON – Today, Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) reintroduced the Saving America’s Pollinators Act of 2015,  which requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend the use of certain insecticides, known as neonicotinoids, until the agency can review the registration and declare that such insecticides do not cause adverse effects upon honey bees and other pollinators.

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“The EPA plans to wait until 2018 before reviewing the registration of neonicotinoids.  But America’s bees cannot wait three more years.  Neither can the thousands of farmers that rely on pollinators.  Our honeybees are critical to ecological sustainability and to our economy.  Scientists have reported that common symptoms of the decline of honey bees and other pollinators are attributed to the use of a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids,” said Rep. Conyers.  “The ‘Saving America’s Pollinators Act’ will address this threat to pollinator populations by suspending the use of certain neonicotinoids and by requiring the EPA to immediately conduct a full review of the scientific evidence before allowing the entry of other neonicotinoids into the market.”

Neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides known to have acute and chronic effects on honey bees and other pollinator species, are considered a major contributing factor to population declines. Academic studies and European regulators have concluded that pesticides identified as neonictinoids are linked to bee declines, both alone and in combination with other factors like disease and malnutrition. 

Added Rep. Conyers, “I urge all of my colleagues to please protect our pollinators and support the Saving America’s Pollinators Act.  One of every three bites of food we eat is from a crop pollinated by honey bees.  These crops include apples, avocados, cranberries, cherries, broccoli, peaches, carrots, grapes, soybeans, sugar beets and onions.  Unfortunately, unless swift action is taken, these crops, and numerous others, will soon disappear due to the dramatic decline of honey bee populations throughout the country.”

The Saving America’s Pollinators Act directs the EPA Administrator to suspend the registration of certain neonicotinoids – such as imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, dinotafuran – and any other members of the nitro group of neonicotinoid insecticides until a determination has been made that such insecticides will not cause adverse effects on pollinators based on an evaluation of peer-review scientific evidence and a completed field study. 

The bill also requires the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the EPA Administrator, to regularly monitor the health and population status of native bees and identify the scope and likely causes of unusual native bee mortality.  

“Pollinators are not only vital to a sustainable environment, but key to a stable food supply.  In fact, one out of every three bites of food we eat is from a crop pollinated by bees.  It is imperative that we take a step back to make sure we understand all the factors involved in bee population decline and move swiftly to protect our pollinators,” said Rep. Blumenauer.

The Saving America’s Pollinators Act of 2015 has been endorsed by the American Bird Conservancy, Avaaz, Bat World Sanctuary, Inc., Beyond Pesticides, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Food Safety, Earthjustice, Ecological Farming Association, Equal Exchange, Family Farm Defenders, Friends of the Earth, Food Democracy Now!, Food and Water Watch, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, National Co+op Grocers, National Organic Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northeast, Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, Northeast Organic Farming Association - Interstate Council, Northeast, Organic Farming Association – Massachusetts, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, Maine, Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Service, Organic Consumers Association, Organic Farmers' Agency for Relationship Marketing, Inc., Organization for Bat Conservation, Oregon Tilth, Pesticide Action Network North America, Sierra Club, United Natural Foods Inc., Toxic Free North Carolina, and International Association for Human Values.

Saving America's Pollinator's Act of 2015

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REP. CONYERS: NETANYAHU ADDRESS IS TROUBLESOME TIMING AND POOR PROTOCOL

Washington, D.C. – Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) released the following statement regarding today’s address to a joint session of Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

Dean of the U.S.House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“My decision not to attend the address by Prime Minister Netanyahu is based not on policy differences but rather on protocol.  Speaker Boehner extended the invitation without consulting President Obama or bipartisan Congressional leadership.  The speech was scheduled just in advance of a highly-contested election in Israel in which Prime Minister Netanyahu is competing and during highly-sensitive international negotiations regarding Iran. In short, the address was poorly-timed and inappropriately executed. 

“I remain a strong supporter of the US-Israel relationship and a longtime advocate for a two-state settlement that finally allows Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace.  Yet the timing and circumstances surrounding this address suggest that it has more to do with advancing a narrow political agenda than strengthening the US-Israel bilateral relationship. 

“Given the Presidential prerogative in matters of foreign affairs, it is inappropriate and unprecedented for Congress to host a foreign leader for a speech without coordinating with the White House.  Speaker Boehner not only failed to coordinate with the White House but failed to inform President Obama of the invitation. 

‘The proximity of the speech to Israeli elections is also deeply troubling.  While use of videos of House floor activity in political campaign advertisements is prohibited, Prime Minister Netanyahu used clips of a prior speech to Congress to great effect in paid advertisements during his 2013 re-election campaign.  Hosting Prime Minister Netanyahu again for an address before a joint session of Congress just weeks before another election invites accusations of meddling in an overseas vote. 

Finally, the use of the House Floor as a platform to argue against the comprehensive nuclear agreement currently being negotiated between Iran and a group of nations including the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany could undermine the very national interests that US diplomats are working hard to advance. 

“I would be delighted and honored to attend a speech by the Prime Minister of Israel, one of our nation’s most important allies, on the House floor.  However, the speech must be appropriately timed and must respect the appropriate protocol.”  

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Drinking Water: A Human Right at Risk in America

By John Conyers, Jr.

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

Take a moment to imagine life without running water. Imagine the ordeal of having to find water not only to stay hydrated but also to bathe, clean, and cook. Imagine the challenge of caring for infants, the sick, or the elderly when the tap runs dry.

Over the past year, hundreds of thousands of Americans -- including residents of my hometown, Detroit, and residents of cities and municipalities around the country -- have had to live out this nightmare. While the causes and consequences of the nation's water crises vary, the core message for policy makers around the country is the same: We need strong and sustained investments to ensure all Americans' access to safe and affordable drinking water.

One year ago, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department announced it would begin an unprecedented policy of water shutoffs. Over the course of the year, more than 33,000 households, or 90,000 residents, were cut off from service for late payment or delinquency.

These shutoffs did not happen in a vacuum.

With its location on the world's largest freshwater system, Detroit should have access to plenty of high-quality drinking water. Yet insufficient investment and shifting population resulted in household water rate increases of more than 119 percent over the course of a decade. Some residents on public assistance have been hit with monthly utility bills totaling more than 50 percent of their monthly household income. By denying residents the ability to maintain proper sanitation, these actions create costly long-term challenges of dysfunction and disease. Water shutoffs force residents to leave a city, further weakening the tax base and worsening the fiscal position of local government.

I fought alongside activists, concerned citizens, and nonprofit organizations to stop these coldhearted and counterproductive shutoffs and propose new long-term investments in affordable water. We won important concessions, including a temporary moratorium and financial assistance programs. But, as of the start of the year, nearly 14,000 customers were still without service, and there's risk of another 12.8-percent rate increase starting in July.

This year, I will be advocating to ensure that Detroit's Water and Sewerage Plan fully implements the water affordability plan passed by Detroit's City Council in 2006 to account for residents' financial need in water billing and to prevent discrimination in access. But we also need strong local, state, and federal investment in infrastructure around the country.

There are dire threats to safe drinking water beyond Detroit. Just an hour's drive south in Toledo, more than 400,000 people were left without water for two days in August after supplies were found to be unsafe for household use due to the presence of microcystin, a toxin from algae blooms in nearby Lake Erie. Earlier in the year, a toxic chemical used to process coal spilled out of a ruptured storage tank into the Elk River, leaving 300,000 West Virginia residents unable to drink or to cook, clean, or bathe with their tap water.

These ecological and industrial water crises -- like Detroit's crisis of affordability and access -- underscore the need for immediate investment. The EPA estimates that the capital needs of water utilities over 20 years amount to $384 billion and another $298 billion for wastewater and runoff.

On Thursday, Feb. 26, at 2:00 p.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., I will be joining the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, a national human rights organization, for an important hearing on how federal, state and local agencies can come together to craft solutions to ensure universal access to quality drinking water. The panel will be moderated by the noted writer and scholar Michael Shank and will feature several of my distinguished colleagues in Congress, including Rep. Charlie Rangel, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Rep. Brenda Lawrence, Rep. Debbie Dingell, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

If you're in Washington, please join us for Thursday's discussion.

In the world's most prosperous nation, it's unthinkable that anyone should go without safe, affordable water.

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Trouble on Tap: A Briefing on the Water Crisis in Detroit, Toledo, and West Virginia.

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, February 26, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) held a briefing organized by faith-based human rights group Unitarian Universalist Service Committee focusing on the affordability of water to the nation's poorest and most vulnerable.  The briefing, held in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, was organized in the context of soaring costs of water to consumers nationally, the continuation of the widely-criticized water shut off policy in Detroit, and the implications of these trends for America's urban and rural water and wastewater services.  In addition to Rep. Conyers, Reps. Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-18), Charles Rangel (D-New York), and Earl Blumenauer (OR-3), were also honorary hosts of the event.

Panelists included: Detroit attorney Alice Jennings, a lead attorney in a federal class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of community organizations and Detroit residents affected by the city's mass water shutoffs; Economist Roger Colton, the developer of the original Detroit Water and Sewer Affordability Plan who testified as an expert witness in the city’s 2014 bankruptcy case;  David Gatton, the director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Council on Metro Economies; and Patricia Jones, the Senior Program Leader for Environmental Justice at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, who is an international expert on the human right to water and coordinated the 2011 and 2014 United Nations missions of the Special Rapporteur to Detroit. Noted writer and scholar Michael Shank, Director of Media Strategy of Climate Nexus, moderated the briefing.

In his remarks, Rep. Conyers emphasized that ensuring the human right to water is “an economic, social, and health issue that we can all get behind.  It doesn’t have any partisan aspect to it.”  In an op-ed published earlier this week, Rep. Conyers advocates for the full implementation of the “water affordability plan passed by Detroit's City Council in 2006 to account for residents' financial need in water billing and to prevent discrimination in access.”  He also stressed the need for “need strong local, state, and federal investment in infrastructure around the country.”

During the briefing, Jennings stated that “just last year, there were 33,000 homes shut off, and only 18,000 restored.  That means that 15,000 potential homes are without water.”  Patricia Jones called on federal agencies “to provide immediate assistance to the thousands in Detroit in harm’s way today.”

Michael Shank highlighted that Detroit’s water system is not alone in facing challenges in covering its costs.  “A survey last month of 368 water utility companies in America suggested that two-thirds of the utilities have insufficient funds to cover their costs and will likely increase fees to make up for the shortfall,” he said.

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REP. CONYERS: JUDICIARY COMMITTEE MAJORITY ENGAGED IN WITCH-HUNT AS MILLIONS OF AMERICANS CONTINUE TO SUFFER THROUGH FORECLOSURE CRISIS

WASHINGTON – Today, during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law hearing consumer protection and mortgage lending settlements, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. issued the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery:

“The stated purpose of today’s hearing is to determine whether there has been a misuse of mortgage settlement funds by the Administration for its so-called “pet projects.” 

“In truth, however, this hearing is really a misguided witch hunt that has absolutely nothing to do with helping the millions of hardworking Americans who were swindled by unscrupulous and predatory mortgage lenders and mortgage servicers.

“Nor does it have anything to do with addressing the massive fraud committed by the securities industry that nearly led to the financial collapse of our Nation’s economy. 

“Rather than focus on these critical issues, the Majority has cited so-called “activist” organizations and the Justice Department as the perpetrators worthy of this hearing. 

“And, who exactly are these entities?  They are housing counseling programs administered at the national, state and local level by service providers subject to a rigorous certification process by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  They include such organizations as: 

•           the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities;

•           the Michigan State University Extension Service;

•           the New York City Commission on Human Rights; and

•           NeighborWorks America.

“So let us just take an in-depth look at one of these organizations.  NeighborWorks is chartered by Congress.  Its board of directors, whose membership is determined by statute, consists of the heads of the financial regulatory agencies, who are presidential appointees subject to Senate confirmation.

“In fact, Congress in 2007 designated  NeighborWorks America to administer the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program pursuant to which this organization has helped more than 1.725 million homeowners.

“If the Majority really cared about the victims of the foreclosure crisis, it would hold a hearing on either the mortgage crisis that still grips many parts of our Nation or on how Congress could better assist those millions of Americans who still are at risk of losing their homes. 

“In stark contrast, when I was Chairman of this Committee, we held 9 hearings and 2 field briefings examining the causes and impact of the foreclosure crisis, as well as potential solutions. 

“Over the course of those hearings, the Committee heard from a U.S. Senator, various Members of the House, representatives from the Treasury Department, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, bankruptcy judges, nationally-recognized economists, leading academics, victims of predatory mortgage lending, and many, many more voices.

“Finally, I am particularly concerned that the Majority has unfairly singled out the National Council of La Raza, which is the Nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. 

“The Chairman of this Committee and the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, in a letter to the Justice Department last November, characterized La Raza as an “activist” group that stands to benefit from the mortgage settlement agreements with Citigroup and the Bank of America.

“As detailed in a response from La Raza –  which I ask unanimous consent to include in today’s hearing record – there is absolutely no truth to this allegation.

“In fact, La Raza has not received a single penny from these settlements and it did not proactively seek to be designated as a recipient of these funds.

“La Raza is not even named specifically in either of these settlement agreements as a designated recipient. And, if it was to receive any monies under these agreements, La Raza has a fire-wall  between its housing counseling activities and its advocacy activities as well as accounting standards in place to ensure such separation.

“This information was readily available had the Majority simply reached out to La Raza to confirm its allegations before putting them in writing to the Justice Department.

“I thank the witnesses for joining us here today and I yield back the balance of my time.”

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