Highlights of Achievements of Congressman Conyers

Some of the more notable legislative accomplishments of Congressman Conyers include:

• the Martin Luther King Holiday Act of 1983;
• the Jazz Preservation Act of 1987;
• the Alcohol Warning Label Act of 1988;
• the Motor Voter Bill of 1993;
• the Violence Against Women Act of 1994;
• the Second Chance Act of 2007;
• the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007;
• the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009;
• the Fair Sentencing Act of 2009.

Additionally,he was the driving force behind the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Advocating for Detroit and Downriver Communities

• Congressman Conyers secured appropriations totaling over one million dollars for the Detroit Medical Center; Hutzel Hospital received $800,000 for general renovation; and the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan received an appropriation of $450,000.
• Intervened to prevent abuse of women in Michigan prisons. He held a series of public meetings to hear testimony by both former inmates and staff on the sexual misconduct of male guards in Michigan's prisons. The public meetings, followed up by consultations between him and the U.S. Department of Justice, led to the creation of a policy in Michigan prisons that restricts male correctional officers from guarding women who reside in private quarters.
• Convened a job fair for ex-offenders in conjunction with the City of Detroit Employment Connection. This innovative partnership was established to reduce the recidivism rate amongst ex-offenders and to ensure that they have meaningful employment opportunities once released from prison.

Fighting for Michigan and the Nation

• As a lifelong supporter of the United Auto Workers, Congressman Conyers is well aware of the struggles that affect working families. With families facing skyrocketing health care costs, rising unemployment, and an outdated minimum wage, he continues to fight for equal pay for women and minorities, a raise in the minimum wage, and full employment of all Americans. He opposes Republican efforts to roll back worker safety standards, to eliminate overtime and replace it with flex-time, and to undermine workers' collective bargaining rights in both the public and private sectors.
• Currently, Chairman Conyers is working on legislation that would protect workers' pensions and health care in corporate bankruptcy cases such as those involving Enron, Worldcom, and National Steel.
• Has introduced legislation to reinstate and reinvigorate the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act.
• Authored legislation, which passed the House before being blocked by Republicans in the Senate, that would allow homeowners to restructure their home loans in bankruptcy so they can continue to pay them and stay in their homes, and has sought a nationwide mortgage foreclosure moratorium in light of the many problems that questionable lending and foreclosure practices have caused to homeowners and communities.

Providing Leadership on Judiciary Issues

• As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Congressman Conyers has introduced and endorsed legislation to advance civil liberties, ensure equal protection and access to the voting booth, and combat violence against women.
• Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the chairman has worked to ensure that our country is kept safe from terrorism while also protecting the civil liberties of our citizens. He has supported all appropriate efforts by the administration and by law enforcement and intelligence authorities to prevent terrorism. At the same time, he has worked to make sure that Americans’ civil liberties and civil rights are preserved in the process.
• He authored several reviews of Bush administration and related abuses which were published as books, including, "What Went Wrong in Ohio," "The Constitution in Crisis," and "Reining in the Imperial Presidency."
• As an outspoken critic of violence against women, Chairman Conyers was also a lead sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was enacted in 1994 and re-authorized in 2001. It provides funding for federal, state, and local programs to combat domestic violence and sexual assault.
• In addition, he is the principal author of the "End Racial Profiling Act," legislation that would protect the rights of all Americans by banning racial profiling nationwide and by requiring all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to take administrative steps to eliminate the practice.
• Chairman Conyers also introduced legislation to set up a blue ribbon panel to investigate the broad range of policies that were undertaken by the Bush administration under claims of unreviewable war powers. This led to the full-length report, “Reining in the Imperial Presidency.” which documented the Bush administration's abuse of power.
• As chairman, Congressman Conyers led the committee’s investigations into alleged abuse of power by the Bush administration, leading to the firing of 9 U.S. attorneys.
• Congressman Conyers was a co-sponsor of the Second Chance Act, which has helped to improve community safety through increased prevention of relapsed criminal behavior.
• As the chief sponsor of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, Congressman Conyers has created stronger requirements for the disclosure and enforcement of lobbying laws.
• Championing intellectual property rights, Chairman Conyers aided in the strengthening of intellectual property laws with the PRO-IP Act of 2008. This law created stronger penalties for acts of counterfeiting and piracy.
• Authored the "Hate Crimes Prevention Act," which placed hate crimes under federal jurisdiction and gave enhanced support by the federal government for local investigation and prosecution. This legislation was signed into law by President Obama.
• He shepherded legislation forward in the House to eliminate the unjustified and discriminatory sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. The final legislation that passed the Senate and House and was signed into law by President Obama reduced the disparity down from a 100-1 ration to a 17-1 ratio.
• Working with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Chairman Conyers helped develop the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which compensated 9/11 responders for any resulting health problems.
• Chairman Conyers also worked to shape the historic Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. Through his leadership on the Judiciary Committee, emergency policies for failing banks were crafted. In addition, Chairman Conyers’ had a hand in shaping the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Working for Quality, Affordable Health Care

For more than three decades, Congressman Conyers has led efforts in Congress to reform the health care system. He is the founder and chairman of the Congressional Universal Health Care Task Force.

• Congressman Conyers is author of the Expanded Medicare for All Act, H.R. 676, which would provide universal health care coverage for all Americans under a single payer, based on the Medicare system. It has the endorsement of over 4,000 physicians nationally. He also introduced the Resident Physician Safety Protection Act, to reduce the long hours that resident physicians are required to work, so that they are rested enough to provide the best hospital care to patients. The American Medical Association and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education have adopted major provisions of the bill.
• Supported the monumental Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which brings to an end some of the worst abuses of the insurance industry and expands health insurance coverage to 40 million previously-uninsured Americans.

International Engagement

• Congressman Conyers is committed to promoting international peace and understanding. He has worked diligently to turn back the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, and founded the Congressional Out of Afghanistan Caucus.
• Congressman Conyers signed on as a plaintiff to a lawsuit challenging President George W. Bush’s Iraq War Resolution as unconstitutional and therefore not valid, since the Constitution specifically designates that only Congress can declare war. Additionally, he has spoken at anti-war demonstrations and has written letters to the administration asking that it meet with the Members of Congress who oppose the war. He has also met with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to reinforce to the Secretary that many members of Congress fully support the UN, and to encourage him to remain focused in asserting the UN role as an arbiter of peace.
• Congressman Conyers has authored legislation to establish a framework to guide the long-term U.S. assistance to Haiti. He is committed to directing multi-lateral funding to Haiti - specifically, $154 million in loans that have been approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) but have yet to be released. He has met with the Board of Directors at the IDB and with the Undersecretary of Treasury, and has written numerous letters to the State Department and the president and to fellow members of Congress in efforts to get these much-needed funds to Haiti.