mr. conyers: mr. speaker, and members, start off this part of our session with this resolution that provides that the house concur in the senate amendments to h.r. 5566 with an amendment. with this resolution we are adopting nearly all of the senate's amendments to our house-passed bill, addressing the very important subject of animal crush videos. i emphasize that the reason this resolution doesn't adopt the senate passed bill in its entirety is due to concerns that criminalizing attempts and conspiracies in this area creates a serious constitutional concern about prior restraint of speech. as chair of the judiciary committee, i owe myself open to the discussion or inquiries of any member of the house about the constitutional aspect of the remark i just made. we need to remember that the history of this bill is thus, the prior law that we passed was struck down as unconstitutional by the supreme court. and that's why we are here doing it again. we think we've got it right this time. as a strong suppo

mr. conyers: mr. speaker and my colleagues, i will urge the house to vote no so as to abstain the president's veto. i'd like to explain why it's important that we're taking this vote. you see, this bill has passed the house under suspension in each of the last three congresses. been brought forward by our colleague, mr. aderholt, each time. it requires courts to recognize duly performed out-of-state notarizations. as it was passing the senate, reports began to surface regarding improper and probably fraudulent documentation in foreclosure actions across the country. improperly formed notarizations were reportedly a major factor in circumventing the legal protections afforded to citizens in foreclosure. notarization in the absence of the person signing the document or without the person's signature or sometimes even forge notary signatures. and so we're taking a fresh look at the notarization bill. there were concerns that it could have unintended effect of facilitating improprieties and mortgage forec

mr. conyers: thank you, mr. speaker. i am a little dismayed that we come back after this recess and after a struggle that has gone on for generations and we come here and of all my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, i am stunned that only one person rises in support of a claim that is so gross, so discriminatory, and i would -- the gentlelady raised the question of why nobody was ever fired or punished or discharged. that's how deep and pervasive this problem has been over the centuries in this country. that's why nobody was punished. and that's why it makes it all the more important that we -- if we can, get as bipartisan a vote from everybody in this house on this matter. now, chairman bobby scott mentioned john boyd of the national black farmers association. he's sitting up in the gallery right now and i want you to know that he came to me in the spring of 1983, that was 27 years ago, and we had been working on this matter ever since. all across the south we even had problems we found out that were in the nort

mr. conyers, mr. conyers, mr. ers. >> john. >> well, he won't be available to close out this session, i guess. so, you know, reverend jackson rules all. [laughter] >> before we ask one of the members of congress if they can return, i would like to ask mary francis berry whether or not the human rights framework gives us any help in talking about these issues, especially the convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination? >> right. that's an excellent point related to the question that was asked. human rights and civil rights in terms of how we define them are two different things. human rights is a broader concept. okay? and in human rights, you don't have questions like does it fit under the 14th amendment? or does it fit under title vii. you asked about u.n. conventions, such as eliminating the race discrimination or discrimination against women. the united states is signatory to the convention. one the results that i have made on the civil rights position and having it gutted, we set up a un

mr. conyers: tin in the event on the planet -- in the event on the planet. people that came to america bring with them the distinct vigor of their culture and their civilization. it isn't somebody that comes from france or italy or argentina or russia, wherever it might be, sweden, that comes to the united states. it isn't that those nationalities have the values to put a mark on freedom and leave it better. we got did the the dreamers from every civilization and can-do spirit. the american sulttur, the american dream is built because we are the recipients of the cream of the crop of every donor civilization on the planet that sent legal immigrants here to america. they rose up and had to sacrifice to get here, had to plan, sell out their future, but when they came here, they were determined to build something of value. and when they saw the statue of liberty, it was a dream. they saw themselves sailing into ellis island, here was the promised land. yes, some thought the streets were paved with gold, but many of them thought they had the opportunity to go ou

mr. conyers, to suspend the rules and agree thousand resolution 716 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 716, resolution recognizing the rape treatment center and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, i have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a letter received