conyers: yes. i would like to now yield as much time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from georgia, mr. hank johnson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. ranking member. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 1021, the temporary bankruptcy judges extension act of 2011. sponsored by my good friend, representative smith of texas, who is also the chair of the judiciary committee which i am pleased to serve on. and i would point out how ironic it is because we are now in the 336th day of this iranian of the tea party -- reign of the tea party republican party which is linked with the in a er toious grover norquist -- with the notorious grover norquist and his tax pledge. his pledge to not raise taxes. we're getting ready, mr. speaker, to get to the end of this year and we still have 160 million americans at risk for suffering a massive or i'll say a tax increase, $1,000 a person on average, maybe about -- i don't know how many m

conyers: mr. speaker, i yield myself two minutes. ladies and gentlemen of the house, h.r. 10 is the mother of all anti-regulatory bills and since the house was in session during 2010 for 116 legislative days, under this bill, and i invite any of my colleagues to make any different analysis, the congress would be required after 70 days after they receive a rule to act upon it. if you only have 116 legislative days a year, it would be literally impossible to handle the number of rules that we would get. namely we get 94 rules last year. 116 days, if we were handling every rule, please, use your aret matic -- arithmetic skills, ladies and gentlemen. this bill would be an unworkable and impossible for new regulations to be enacted. but then maybe that's the whole thrust of the matter. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: -- the chair: the gentleman from reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: i yield six minutes to the gentleman from kentucky, mr. davis, who

conyers: mr. speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: the afl-cio has backed up what the ranking member, mr. miller of education and labor, has said. they warn that h.r. 3010 would upend more than 40 years of labor, health, -- 15 more seconds. it would upend more than 40 years of labor, health, safety, and environmental laws and threaten new needed protections. it would cripple the regulatory process and make protecting workers and the public secondary -- 15 more seconds -- to limiting costs and impacts on business and corporations. i will put this into the record at the appropriate time. the chair: that request has been covered under general leave. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i yield myself three minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: mr. chairman, i realize some people want to close their eyes and close their ears so they don't see or hear the facts. there is an old adage that none are so blind as those who don't want

conyers: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: thank you. i would just like to point out that the crane study referred to already by the distinguished chairman of the committee apparently hasn't found out that it's been held in error in a number of ways, but mostly by the crane study people themselves who said that their analysis was not meant to be a decisionmaking tool for lawmakers or federal regulatory agencies to use in choosing the right level of regulation. in other words, the study is flawed because it fails to account for any benefits of regulation so that i -- i want everybody to feel that this correction about $1.75 trillion has been thoroughly debunked by not only c.r.s. but other authorities as well. now, this debate follows a number of pieces of legislation that we are considering. it's sort of a regulation tidal wave or anti-regulation tidal wave. h.r. 310, regulatory accountability, h.r. 10, which we will see so

>> hoda does. >> don't come near me. >> very colorful conyers.come from south america. >> they are so sweet and beautiful. >> we have something else. >> they can stay up there for the last christmas animal. you can't do christmas without a reindeer. so here comes nick of all reindeers. >> a lot of people don't think reindeer are real. >> they think they can't fly. he is going to be very busy. >> is it donna? >> this is nick. >> so these guys are amazing animals that live up in the north. they've got wonderful adaptations including these cool feet. you see those feet? those are amazing feet that won't slide on the roof tops with ice and snow. they can pull the sleigh. they're very hardy animals. >> so are you, julie. >> this is a great one. >> talented animals. >> i won't guarantee they won't poop on you. >> just two shopping days left. last minute holiday gifts after these messages. >>> good morning. christmas eve already here and a good part of the country is going to be snow free with the exception of new mexico and texas, west texas where snow

meanwhile, congressman jon conyers is asking attorney general eric holder to investigate the measure. conyers says an emergency manager for detroit would be perpetrating the discrimination on even a more egregious scale. republican governor rick snyder is encouraging the city to take a consent agreement. >> a consent agreement is where basically they design a plan that we have confidence in that they should have the opportunity to execute, and i'm happy to be very supportive of helping them execute it but give them the chance for success. >> so how heavy-handed is it? joining me tonight is reverend david bullock. he's the pastor of the greater st. matthew baptist church of highland park, michigan, and president of the rainbow push in detroit. reverend, good to have you with us tonight. i met you sunday night in detroit, where i spoke at a church there. and this is all the people we're talking about. they told me that they refer to this as the dictator law. how oppressive is this, and how are the people responding? >> that's right, ed. thank you for having me on the show tonight. it wa

longtime congressman john conyers of michigan sent this letter to allen west. about your goebbels remark. he was a vicious, notorious anti-semite who went down in history as propaganda for hitler. i greg of you to help raise the level of congressional discourse instead of personal attacks. allen west refuses to back down, he responded to conyers with a note back saying this. the democrat party does, indeed, have a vicious propaganda machine. it espouses lies and deceit and the master of deceptive information would truly be proud. i have been personally attacked and denigrated on countless occasions. i do not appreciate your letter. really, congressman? why don't you show us the tape of when that's happened to you. i'd like to see it. not only is allen west refusing to apologize, he's playing the victim and he's even blaming reporters for twisting his words. you know, i expect this kind of thing from a certain washed up former fox news host, but it is beyond unacceptable from a sitting united states congressional member. i hope the folks in allen west's florida

we were very thankful to john conyers, who represents michigan, and frankly every no. senator and congressman. they would be badly impacted by anything going forward that did not have this understanding, this reworking of the treaty with canada, and in part with mexico. that must be in place before the fcc can repack. otherwise, they literally do not have a channel to move. that is the physics of airways. >> when the house bill was marked up and are of a december, the democrats said this was too generous in terms of money reserved for broadcasters forced to relocate. in other words, they are not giving up the spectrum, but have to move to different channels. it is $3 billion in the house bill. it is less in the senate bill and less house democrats proposed. mr. billion dollars to generous? >> i think to properly understand the house bill, you need to understand $3 billion is a cap. when we went from analog to digital, the cost of redoing the situation was $15 billion for broadcasting. i hope there is much less than $3 billion spent, because there will not be done and e

guest: well, specifically the international treaty piece, and we were very thankful to congressman conyers representing michigan, and frankly, every northern senator and congressmen, they would be badly impacted by anything going forward that didn't have these -- this understanding, this reworking of the treaty with canada, and in part with mexico, that that be in place before the fcc can repack, otherwise they literally don't have a channel to move to. that's just the physics of airways. >> guest: when the house bill was marked up in early december, the democrats complained that it was too generous in terms of how much money was reserved for broadcasters, forced to relocate, not giving up the spectrum, but repacking, moving to other channels, it's $3 billion in the house bill, less in the senate bill. is $3 billion too generous? if not, why not? >> guest: well, i think to properly understand the house bill, you need to understand that the $3 billion is a cap. when we went from analog to digital, the whole cost of redoing the system was $15 billion for broadcasting. i hope that there's muc

conyers. >> thank you, and chairman smith. a hearty welcome not only to the attorney general of the united states, eric holder, but as well -- this is the most numerous number of police chiefs and department of justice officials that i have seen in this room at one time in quite awhile. all of them, but particularly to the detroit police chief who is here, i sent a special welcome. chairman smith, would it be appropriate that our colleague, a former member of the committee, adam schiff of california, said on the day is with us? >> we normally don't do that, but in this -- we can have him sit up on the dais with us. we certainly welcome his presence of here. >> i thank you for that courtesy. adam, come on up. >> if he can find room. >> there are two parts to my comments this morning, members of the committee. the first deals with what are the problems underlying the reason for the hearing, and the second, more specifically, deals with a career and contributions of the attorney general of the un

conyers: thank you, mr. speaker. members of the house of representatives, this issue has never gone before the house judiciary committee. never. and i would like to put in the record a letter from the former director of the federal bureau of investigation, william sessions, and it's dated december 14. and it says, there has been some debate over whether section 1021 of the national defense act authority merely restates existing law or would for the first time codify authority for the president to indefinitely detain without charge virtually anyone picked up in anti-terrorism efforts. including united states citizens arrested on united states soil. attached please find a letter from judge william sessions, a former federaludge and former director of the f.b.i. under presidents reagan, bush, and clinton, explaining the current law on this point is unclear and that enacting section 1021 of this act would dangerously expand the power for indefinite detention. i know you gentlemen have studied this in the armed services c

conyers. >> thank you, chairman said. hearty welcome to the attorney general of the united states, eric holder. this is the most numerous number of police chiefs and department of justice officials i have seen in this room at one time in quite a while. particularly the detroit police chief, who is here. i sent a special welcome. chairman smith, would it be appropriate if a former member of the committee, adam schiff of california, said on the dias with us? >> we usually do not do that. but we would be pleased to have him sit on the dais with us. we welcome his presence of here. >> i hate you for that courtesy. -- i thank you for that courtesy. adam, come on up. there are two parts to my comments this morning to members of the committee. the first deals with what are the problems underlying the reason for the hearing. the second deals more specifically with the career and contributions of the attorney general of the united states. i have the privilege of putting the solutions that i would like you to consider out in my ope

conyers, the representative from florida, mr. west, demonstrates not only the willful and maliciousness application of history but also his disdain for the decorum of the congress. and whereas, the conduct of the representative from florida was repugnant now therefore be it resolved that the house of representatives disapproves of the behavior of the representative from florida, mr. west, for bringing discredit to the house by offending the memory of those who died during the holocaust. the speaker pro tempore: under rule 9 the resolution offered from the floor by a member other an the majority and minority leader as question of the privilege of the house has immediate precedent only at a time designated by the chair within two legislative days after the resolution is properly noticed. pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the gentlewoman from maryland will appear in the record at this point. the chair will not at this point determine resolution whether it is a question of privilege. that determination w

conyers. i also would like to recognize congressman steve format. he is the author of the marketplace equity act. we appreciate you introducing that. i will go to the introduction of our witnesses. mr. conyers this will introduce going from left to right our first witness. >> thank you. i am happy to introduce our first witness of this hearing because he is a small business owner from of lansing, michigan. dan marshall. a second-generation operator of a family chain of music stores called martial music. -- marshall music. as a failed musician, i should visit you as often i can when we have the time in this busy, chris. -- busy congress. his parents from the store in 1948. it has grown and is doing well. he now has 300 full-time and part-time employees. music instruments and performance space and listens to musicians -- i am doing quite a bit of advertising for you today. i am glad that you are here to tell your story on behalf of many of the small business owners in the country. thank you, mr.

. >> reverend jackson, you've been working with congressman conyers and others.t is the next step? >> it must be more dramatic, direct action. this is christmastime, classical political genocide taking away people's basic rights -- and illegal in 1965 -- we need the government to interpose its power to deny states the right to take away the right of vote. this is undermining 50 years of civil rights and human rights struggle. i would hoe in detroit we should be focused on reconstruction. a big lawsuit was won today in washington by attorney general lisa mad i gan where countrywide was fined for taking people's homes. we should be focused on home reconstruction and the fines should respond to the level -- we need urban reconstruction, not democratic displacement. >> we must protect the right to vote. if the recall doesn't work, we need to do what we have to do. i thank both of you for your time. happy holidays. >>> ahead, remembers the godfather of soul, the legend himself, james brown, and why he had the holiday spirit and what it meant to give back. [ male annou

conyers: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: i want to commend the chairman of the judiciary, lamar smith, for the cooperation and bringing this bill out of committee and through the congress. on september 12 of this year, my bill passed unanimously and the requirement that judges and judicial branch employees disclose their personal finances promotes openness in the federal government. it reduces the risk of corruption and prevents the appearance of impropriety and also sheds some transparency on what we do in the third brample of government. unfortunately, sometimes tease required discle sures can include critical information about a filer's residence, a spouse's workplace, a child's workplace, a vacation home that has the potential to place members of the judiciary and sometimes their employees and their families at risk, and so what we're doing here is allowing a redax by -- a redaction by the federal conference and the whole idea is to to -- is to make sure

. >> congressman, i thank you for your comments, before we close, represented john conyers, democratmichigan, also on that committee of ranking democrats saying he's been down this path before. more impeachments than anyone else in the country and that won't solve the case, maybe there is he' a better way of getting to eric holder and getting him to bring some truth to the table. thank you, sir. >> and literally the all new efficient chevy sonic is making a debut at dealership near you and gary gastelu, the lucky guy, took it for a spin. here is the car report. >> if you get your information from television, take a good look at this hour and maybe the only time you see it for a while. >> the 2012 chevrolet sonic is on sale now, but in an effort to appeal to so-called millenials. to the media and edgy things called magazines. >> it's available as a sedan or hatchback, sharing the motorcycle inspired design cue. the difference here, back here the sedan is a very large trunk and a hatchback with a small compartment extended by lowering the seats or dropping the floor to carry larger ite

>> well, first of all, i join my ranking member, my colleague, john conyers, representative from detroitonstitutionality of this runaway law. under article 4, section 4, we are owed an obligation to have a democracy of which we can vote on our dually chosen candidates. but this is a runaway opportunity to diminish minority voting power in particular because of the predominance of this process on predominantly african-american communities including detroit. i agree with mayor bing that he can get this done. this is union busting, but it is more than that. it is job busting. i hope many of your viewers will realize that when you go into conservatorsh conservatorship, you're still paying money, huge dollars to someone called a conservator. and, frankly, that relieves a state of texas -- excuse me, the state of michigan -- we have a situation like that in texas. the state of michigan from paying their due responsibility to detroit. let me just say this one point. the state of michigan had a deal with the city of detroit. they indicated that they would pay them $330 million if they reduced th

donna edwards has done so, my fred ted deutch down in florida has done so and there are others, john conyerse is a groundswell around this nation at the community level and municipal level and even in congress to get money out. it has a corrosive effect on democracy, and we have to do something about it. >> it would seem that the most powerful thing right now is for everybody in this debate to remain aligned on the principles of demanding an elevation of the quality of this debate and explore the debate on corporations, people, money and speech and not get lost in partisan bickering or arguments over words in a given amendment. is that a fair characterization? >> yes, i think so. i think it's right. right now the movement has to recognize the good and not quibble over the minutia. we need to basically get people aligned around the principle that money has a corrosive effect on politics, that there should not be legal bribery that goes on and that we don't need our members of congress around other politicians spending half the day trying to raise money when they really should be talking to co

conyers, the current lot in the 45 states that have sales tax plus the district of columbia is there is a current use tax obligation for a purchaser who does not pay the sales tax when they purchase the item. some states like texas don't have a way in which they could be revisited. other states like california have a line on the income taxes for use tax collection. it is done. it is the lot. it is very difficult, and i do respect the tax collection efforts by many states that it is very hard to do and it will cost a significant amount of money to do that. therefore, it does seem to make a lot more sense that on large retailers, you impose a burden that they collect and remit sales tax. that is in 45 states. >> so you support my legislation? >> as currently written, we do not support the legislation. the lack of a sufficiently high small business exception. >> so that is your main reservation about. >> yes, sir. >> let me ask you this. is it fair for some businesses that have a sales tax advantage by not having to collect sales tax, which is why you are for this bill if we could get t

i want to acknowledge all so two members of congress who are here, russ carnahan and john conyers and of the diplomatic corps. i personally wish to welcome president -- the president of kosovo. she has been a strong voice and someone who we are very proud of and impressed by. i am also pleased to be joined, as you have already heard, by a great group of colleagues from across our government undersecretary michelle fournoy, sandy when i felt, a deputy aid director don steinberg, some that the power and others who are here the audience. on a personal basis, i want to say to michelle fluornoy announced she will be leaving early next year from the defense department. she has been a valued partner and a terrific leader for our country and we will miss you but we know you're public-service days are far from over. thank you, michelle. [applause] i also want to recognize all the members of our armed forces who are with us today. i would like to give them all round of applause. [applause] all of you and those you are serving with and leading are on our minds and in our hearts this holiday seas

>> as we had our beautiful white cockatoo, we have wonderfully colorf colorful conyers.e don't think reindeer are real. >> they think they can't fly. he is going to be very busy. >> is it donna? >> this is nick. >> so these guys are amazing animals that live up in the north. they've got wonderful adaptations including these cool feet. you see those feet? those are amazing feet that won't slide on the roof tops with ice and snow. they can pull the sleigh. >> this is a great one. >> talented animals. >> i won't guarantee they won't poop on you. >> just two shopping days left. [ older brother ] hey, that's the last crescent. [ younger brother ] oh, do you want it? yeah. ok, we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light... ...buttery and flaky... this is half. that is not half. guys i have more. [ female announcer ] do you have enough crescents? [ female announcer ] it's the holiday sale at famous footwear. ♪ ♪ winter wonderland, oh, my [ female announcer ] buy one pair of shoes, get another pair half off. ♪ we'll make today famous, it's true ♪ [ female announcer

want to thank congressman john conyers who three days after the assassination put forth to bill and it, ronald reagan signed the bill to help erect a monument. to all of them, we owe a very special round of applause. put your hands together, will you? [applause] i was glad to be a part of his core of disciples to work, -- who worked, organized a march and paradprayed with him. here are today, one of the132 mm jamestown where the slave ships landed. a 400-year journey from 132 miles. i remembered my last birthday with dr. king, january 15, 1968. he was planning a march on washington. it was a poor people's campaign to occupy the mall. we were willing to engage in civil disobedience to do whatever was necessary in the nation's capital to get the attention of the government to shift the war in vietnam to a war on poverty at home. healing and being healed -- healed. in his last sunday morning sermon delivered at the washington national cathedral, four days before his assassination, dr. king said we're coming to washington to demand that the government addressed itself on the problem of pov

rangel shares his -- this with members sam johnson, howard coble and john conyers, korean veterans all, a personal knowledge of how crucial this resolution is in addressing unresolved issues from that long-ago conflict. another person who understands the critical importance of this resolution is the president of the korean war inductees families union who flew almost halfway across the globe from seoul, korea, to be here and witness the consideration of this resolution on the house floor, ms. lee was a mere 18-month-old baby when her father was taken away by the north koreans, not to be seen again for the past six dengeded. . general mcarthur famously told the u.s. congress that the american people had old soldiers never die, they just fade away. how sadly ironic that some of the old soldiers of the korean conflict in which general mccarthur served faded into a north korean goulag. we demonstrate that these soldiers will not be allowed to fade away into the fog of war. this resolution reminds us that 8,000 americans missing in action from korea remain unaccounted for and that an estima

also in detroit where they spent a lot of black population migration and loss, john conyers, two black incumbents from detroit have seen their districts out in the suburbs. .. >> oddly-drawn districts in a lot of states, and really it's helped republicans kind of solidify their broad majority, you know, the majority of districts nationwide are republican leaning, or at least republican leaning, and these majority black districts and majority hispanic districts have generally assisted in that process. >> just to follow up, maybe you could say a little something about there has been for the last several cycles sometimes alliances between republicans and african-american democrats to create majority/minority districts and also then, therefore, create more republican districts in the remaining territory. we've seen that in some places, missouri is one case. so say something about that, and then following on aaron's point, there certainly are, um, there's a theory that if african-americans are elected or minorities are elected to a majority/minority district, they might become safe enough t

engulfed by members, some who had served with him from michigan like chairman dingell and chairman conyerse has president himself, ford said himself, the length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends. in his long life of great accomplishments, president ford was most proud of his family. today we pay special tribute to his family, michael, jack, susan and steven, three of whom are with us and we also send our love and respect to first lady, betty ford. our nation owes her a great debt of gratitude for her role as first lady, but well beyond that, the lives of millions of americans. please extend our spec to your mom. when we unveil the statute it is always a special location for us in the capital but when it happens to be one, for one who has served in the congress, that is a rarity and president who has served in the congress it gets pretty personal as well. because, mr. president become together here to honor the character and courage, the civility of a former proud member of the house of representatives, indeed again a former minority leader, president ford

in detroit where there has been a lot of black population, migration and loss, john conyers and hansen clarke are the two black incumbents from detroit. we have also seen them expand in new orleans. the district a distress always been armorers. the voting next rights requires the redistricting is to maintain black districts. part of it is that republicans are drawing the line in some cases and combining the black voters to as few districts as possible and that is politically beneficial to them. we have seen a proliferation of these very oddly drawn majority black districts. it has helped republicans solidify their broad majority of districts nationwide. these majority black districts and majority hispanic districts have generally assisted in that process. >> maybe you could say a little something about -- there has been, for the last several cycles, sometimes alliances between republicans and african- american democrats to create districts and create more republican districts in the remaining territory. we have seen that someplace? there is a theory that if african-americans are electe