Now the Hard Part Begins

We did it! We won at least 29 House seats and took the majority. We won 6 Senate seats and took back the Senate too, not to mention 28 Governors and several more statehouses. We had incredible turnout of Democratic voters across the country. Thanks to you, we had a vigorous election protection program in place to fight those who would restrict our right to vote. We ran a positive campaign on the issues that really matter to American voters.

The past two years we have worked very hard to bring a new majority to Congress and to restore accountability in Washington. We have fought together on issues such as the unanswered irregularities in the Ohio presidential election, the scandal of the Downing Street Minutes, the shame of outing a CIA agent, and much more. Together we proved that a number of dedicated online activists, working in conjunction with a single congressman, could become a force to be reckoned with.

Although we won back control of Congress, none of us should delude ourselves into thinking that running the legislative branch in a nation wracked by years of one party rule will be easy. We need to put aside any thought of anger or payback. Instead we need to focus on identifying and correcting abuses and pass legislation which serves the interests of the American people.

We also need to recapture the White House in 2008 and maintain and expand our majorities in the Congress. In order to achieve these goals we need to be totally united as a Party. It is fine to debate and argue behind closed doors and among ourselves, but at the end of the day, we owe it to the American people to unite and lead.

Thus, in my opinion it serve,s no one,s interests but the Republicans for anyone, including my friend James Carville, to suggest dumping DNC Chairman Dean [1] less than three days after the most sweeping Democratic Congressional victory in more than thirty years. As many of you also know, I have agreed with Speaker-to-be Pelosi that impeachment is off the table. Instead, we agree that oversight, accountability and checks and balances - which have been sorely lacking for the last six years - must occur. I have nothing but respect for those who might disagree, but that is where I come out.

Having devoted a considerable amount of time and attention to detailing the many abuses of the Bush Administration, I firmly believe that we have brought these matters to the attention of the American people and the mainstream media, and that their verdict was reflected in the elections on November 7. I consider the now famous "basement hearings" and the issuance of my "Constitution in Crisis" Report [2] to be among the watershed achievements of my more than forty years in Congress.

I also remain committed to the seminal issue of election reform. As one who held several hearings in the immediate aftermath of the Ohio debacle and went on to author "What Went Wrong in Ohio [3]," I believe more than ever that we need a paper trail on voting machines. We also need to strengthen our laws to put an end to intimidation schemes, like the stealth robo-calls [4] voters received before the election. I intend to introduce legislation next Congress concerning these matters.

Additionally, none of us should underestimate the continued anger and vitriol of our political opponents, even after the election they are engaged in a permanent campaign to discredit Democrats and thwart our agenda of change. You need to go no further than the November 9 editorial in the supposedly mainstream Investors Business Daily, which smeared not only me but my constituents, writing, "[Michigan congressman John] Conyers led the defense of Bill Clinton in last decade's impeachment hearings and is clearly out for blood. So are many of the constituents he serves." Pejorative and prejudiced statements like this should have no place in our political discourse.

I am hopeful that I will be selected as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee is one of the most important committees in the House, and has jurisdiction over the Justice Department, the civil rights laws, criminal laws, the civil justice system, the courts, immigration laws, antitrust laws, patent and copyright laws, bankruptcy laws, administrative law, and Constitutional amendments. If I am selected as Chair, I believe it will place us in a position to make real and meaningful changes for the good of the American people.

We remain in this together, and I continue to look forward to receiving your ideas, your support, and your advice in the coming months and years.

Your Friend,

John Conyers, Jr.