we will hear first from john conyers of michigan. this is one hour. >> this is a day we have come to remember and honor the life and legacy of one of america's most celebrated civil rights leaders, the late dr. dorothy height. she passed just yesterday. she was one that brings back many memories for many of the members of the house . . she was -- her connections with dr. martin luther king jr. and rosa parks and all the organizations that she was connected with are already a part of legendary record. i was with her in 1963 when dr. king led this march to washington and i remembered seeing her, i didn't know her at that time, but i sure got to know her a couple years later. i'm going to put my remarks in the record and yield to our distinguished majority whip, -- wait a minute. maybe i should let mr. poe go for a little while. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i want to thank the chairman of the judiciary committee for bringing

caller: john conyers, someone who has been here too long, i think. independents should have term- limits. i cannot get to him, nobody can. my question to representative edward is when barack obama was running for president and he accused john mccain of warning to go after programs with a hatchet instead of like a surgeon who would try to maintain the system. during detroit they have a diversity manager named robert baba who has come in here with a hatchet and is closing all the schools, almost half of them. supposedly on orders from washington. host: we are ready to appear shortly. let's get a response. guest: been in congress is a of challenging job and my colleagues across the country, whether democrats or republicans, our job is to meet with constituents, work on legislation and to be communicators. we really try to do that. i think democrats have a strong agenda calling into 2010. and we have accomplished tremendous things for the american people. we are on the path to job creation and shoring up our manufacturing censure -- sector. host: he talk

so i'm pleased to join my colleague, john conyers. i came to congress some 30 years ago. we talked about making martin luther king jr.'s birthday a holiday, not a holiday to play but a holiday to recognize the contributions made then and the work that needs to be made now. john conyers had me out in front of the capitol on january 15 or close to that time every year, and i was so proud to stand with him and say to america, let us recognize those who as taylor branch has said are the modern founders of democracy. thank you, mr. chairman, for your leadership. thank you for bringing this resolution to the floor to recognize an extraordinary, wonderful, lovely person whose spirit enriched us all and enriched our country, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from illinois, mrs. biggert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. mrs. biggert: thank you. i thank the gentleman from for yielding.

so i'm pleased to join my colleague, john conyers. i came to congress some 30 years ago.y a holiday, not a holiday to play but a holiday to recognize the contributions made then and the work that needs to be made now. john conyers had me out in front of the capitol on january 15 or close to that time every year, and i was so proud to stand with him and say to america, let us recognize those who as taylor branch has said are the modern founders of democracy. thank you, mr. chairman, for your leadership. thank you for bringing this resolution to the floor to recognize an extraordinary, wonderful, lovely person whose spirit enriched us all and enriched our country, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from illinois, mrs. biggert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. mrs. biggert: thank you. i thank the gentleman from for yielding. i had to come down to the floor just to support this res

. >> john conyers, so you are referring to reparations?> yes. >> as i see that going for the the word reparations has been turned into something of a toxic worded, but i see progress being made on that front on individual channels. in example i will give you is the recent settlement of african-american farmers that the department of agriculture just signed. the secretary of the department of agriculture under president obama's administration, $1.6 billion, president bush was not moving forward on that and the new administration did move toward on that so no one would call that preparations and would put that word attached to it, but what it is is a whole line -- a whole lot of taxpayer dollars to correct a wrong that was inflicted upon thousands of african-american farmers over the time of years so as i say that developing i see it being done not limited but in very discreet ways individually. agriculture in this way. going after education in another way. that's how i see that progressing and i don't think anyone will put the word reparati

riddle's former boss, monica conyers, is the wife of democratic congressman john conyers. o bribery and has been sentenced to three years in prison. and riddle doesn't deny that he benefitted from an usual deal facilitated by monica conyers. a local businessman, who she said might need a favor, paid riddle $20,000. he says he did very little for the money but had to hand over half the cash to conyers. >> the councilwoman demanded, if you will, a finder's fee from me. >> reporter: finder's fee sounds like kickback. >> well, it can sound like kickback all day long. i'm giving you the reality, a detroit reality that may not be a very pretty picture to some. all i'm telling you is what occurred. >> reporter: sam riddle. you know sam? >> yes. >> reporter: told me that that's just the way things work in detroit. >> i don't accept that. if that's the way things worked in the past, then we need it to be the past. our future will not tolerate that. >> reporter: mayor dave bing is determined to transform the way people think and behave in detroit. so that's your old pistons jersey? >

john conyers and i authored a resolution that passed the united states congress honoring the life andy pelosi personally signed it last night. and asked me to present a copy of that resolution francis, which i will do in just a moment. [ause] >> the speaker who broke a glass ceiling asked me to give her personal condolences to the family and her regrets nor not being here. ben hooks came to the inaugural yesterday because of the terrible weather he was not able to attend but he was there in spirit and in the hotel. i extend my condolences with hooks' family, his siblings, patricia, his daughter, my friends michael and michael, jr., who he took in as if his own children. i was lucky to have him as a friend. times are getting tight in this country but they're getting better. but times must be getting tight in heaven as well. because god took benjamin hooks and dorothy hite, a life well lived. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> abraham lincoln died on april 15th, 1865. when his cabinet secretary heard the news, he said now we belong to the same ages. exactly 145 years later, on apri

i thank chairman john conyers for his unyielding support of d.c. voting rights. i thank former representative tom davis, whose idea it was to pair democratic d.c. with republican utah, the most perfect example of a bipartisan bill ever to hit this floor where each side benefits equally. i thank d.c. voters, and the coalition they put together. who were steadfast and creative throughout this process. the senate for the first time in fact enacted the bill but it had a gun amendment that took down the district's gun safety laws. yet the district's gun safety laws have been held to be constitutional now by the courts. nevertheless, when the bill came here to the house, i sought a clean vote, almost got it, thank the house for being willing to put the d.c. house voting rights bill on a must-pass bill. the senate did not agree. so i spent months trying to negotiate a compromise that would have at least have left at least some of d.c.'s gun laws intact. but finally and reluctantly agreed to the same amendment that passed the senate to in fact alter district's gun laws,

i would like to thank my friend john conyers, the chairman of the judiciary committee for working withe on this issue, who was unfortunately absent. he was close to reverend hooks in detroit and other places in fighting for civil rights over the years. i would also like to commend the ranking member of the judiciary committee, lamar smith, for joining me in co-sponsoring this resolution. if i could i'd like to yield some time to chairman towns of new york. as much time as he needs. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. towns: thank you very much, mr. speaker. let me thank the gentleman from memphis for yielding to me because i had an opportunity to work very closely with dr. hooks. i recall we moved naacp to brooklyn and he was the president of the naacp at the time we moved him to brooklyn. i was always impressed with his dedication and commitment to people. dr. hooks was really committed to change and -- in a positive way. of course, having the opportunity to work very closely with him, i had to -- i had the opportunity to observe him as he moved wit