John Conyers

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. McEachin).

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. DelBene).

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Carbajal).

Mr. CONYERS. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin my remarks today by extending my condolences to the family and friends of the 59 individuals killed in the shooting in Las Vegas, and I express my best hopes for the recovery of the more than 500 persons who were injured. This Congress has a responsibility to find a way to prevent tragedies like this, as well as the daily incidents of gun violence in our communities, but instead of considering legislation to prevent gun violence, the House is spending today pushing a 20-week abortion ban that will disproportionately hurt women and families who face some of the most medically complex situations imaginable. So it is with great pleasure that I oppose H.R. 36, because it is a dangerous and far-reaching attack on a woman's constitutional right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. Roe v. Wade's basic holding is that a woman has a constitutional right to have an abortion prior to the fetus' viability, which is generally considered by the experts to be around 24 weeks from fertilization. By banning previability abortions, H.R. 36 is a direct challenge to Roe. Another serious flaw, in my view, of H.R. 36 is that its narrow rape exception completely misconstrues the difficult challenges that survivors of sexual assault face and the very real reasons why a rape or incest may go unreported. So by requiring that a rape or incest survivor provide documentation to corroborate her statement that she was raped, the bill's sponsors seem to be saying that maybe women cannot be trusted to tell the truth about sexual assault, and they certainly cannot be trusted to make their own private healthcare decisions. I urge my colleagues to oppose this dangerous and mean-spirited legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette), the co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 178, the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act. I thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for his excellent work in this area. This legislation would increase protections for elder abuse victims, which is very important, as a vast majority of cases of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults in the United States often go unreported and unaddressed. Each year, nearly $3 billion is taken from older adults due to financial abuse and exploitation, and this is happening across all racial, social, economic, gender, and geographic lines. This important measure increases protections for victims by, first, ensuring support for Federal cases involving elder abuse. This support will include the requirement that the Attorney General designate at least one assistant United States attorney to serve as an elder justice coordinator in every judicial district to prosecute, train, assist with, and conduct public outreach on elder abuse. Additionally, this measure would also require that the Executive Office for United States Attorneys operate an elder abuse resource group and a working group to advise the Justice Department on elder abuse issues. Secondly, this measure would require the establishment of best practices for local, State, and Federal data collection to focus on elder abuse, including, for example, the total number of Federal investigations of elder abuse and locations where cases are filed. Findings under this legislation include the fact that older adults who are abused are three times more likely to die earlier than older adults of the same age who are not abused, and that up to half of all older adults with dementia will experience abuse. For these reasons, a third component of this measure that I find extremely important and valuable is the enhanced victim assistance to elder abuse survivors. This measure would require that an annual report be submitted to Congress on the funding under the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 for victims of crimes who are elders. And finally, this measure adds a new definition of ``telemarketing and email marketing'' under the telemarketing statute to protect victims of such scams, which typically involve elders. We must do everything possible to support victims of elder abuse and prevent the abuse from occurring in the first place. And so for these several reasons, I am very pleased to support the bill with the chairman of the committee. Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, the elder abuse problem has devastating consequences to the victims as well as their loved ones, and it is an affront to America's older adults. It involves the exploitation of some of our most vulnerable citizens. This measure includes a multipronged approach to prevent elder abuse and exploitation, protect the victims of elder abuse and exploitation from further harm, and bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. Accordingly, I am pleased to urge my colleagues to support this measure. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 782, the Providing Resources, Officers, and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children Act of 2017, and thank my colleague from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), who has worked so diligently on this matter. Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes appropriations for this program in the amount of $60 million for each fiscal year from 2018 through 2022. These figures are consistent with current appropriated levels. We must continue to protect our children from the daily threats that permeate the electronic platform and endanger the well-being of our children. Earlier this morning, as has been said, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations held a hearing addressing these very problems. As ranking member of that committee, I vow to continue my commitment toward eradicating this infectious poison that has claimed the innocence of so many of our youths. I look forward to working with my colleagues and others on these very important issues. That is why I support the measures put forth in this bill.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the people of Taiwan on the 106th anniversary of their republic, celebrated on October 10th. October 10th, known in Taiwan as ``Double Ten Day'', is revered by the Taiwanese people--just as Fourth of July is here in the United States. It commemorates the Wuchang Uprising, which triggered a revolution that led to the overthrow of China's imperial regime and the establishment of the Republic of China. Since the Republic of China was founded on January 1, 1912, the people of Taiwan have developed a democracy of which they should be proud. They are our 10th largest trading partner, including more than $200 million in purchases from my home state of Michigan. They are an economically and socially growing nation, that has recently implemented a single-payer National Health Insurance (NHI) system. This system is similar to legislation that I have been championing in the U.S. House for more than a decade, and which Bernie Sanders recently introduced in the U.S. Senate. I believe that America has much to learn from this work, and I am eager to see them succeed in guaranteeing their citizens a universal right to healthcare--a practice America would do well to follow. I also want to commend the people of Taiwan on their success this past year, in which they inaugurated their first female president--a first not only for the island, but also the first woman elected head of state in Asia in her own right, who was not related to a notable male politician. I want to congratulate my friends across the ocean and wish them a very happy 106th Double Ten Day.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3229, a bipartisan, commonsense measure intended to protect the safety of federal judges and judicial employees. The bill accomplishes this critical goal by extending the authority of the Judicial Conference to redact sensitive information contained in the financial disclosure reports filed by these individuals pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. Specifically, H.R. 3229 would extend this authority for 10 years, that is, until December 31, 2027. I am an original cosponsor and strong supporter of this bill for several reasons. To begin with, absent a further extension of this authority, the Judicial Conference's ability to redact sensitive personal information from the financial disclosure statements filed by judges and judicial employees would cease and thereby create potentially serious security risks to these individuals. Judges and judicial employees are often the subject of threats, harassment, and violence. Like probation officers, these individuals routinely interact with disgruntled litigants and convicted criminals who may hold grudges against them. A resentful litigant seeking to take revenge for a judicial decision can learn of a federal judge's home address, his or her spouse's place of employment, or a child's school, among other types of sensitive information, by requesting a copy of the judge's financial disclosure report. During 2016, for instance, a federal judge was shot in front of his home, a murder-for-hire plot against a federal judge was uncovered, and threatening letters were sent to other judges. Fortunately, section 105 of the Ethics in Government Act grants the Judicial Conference the authority to redact certain limited information from financial disclosure reports when the release of such information could endanger a judge, a judicial employee, or a member of their family. Congress has extended this redaction authority on 5 previous occasions, most recently on January 3, 2012. Another reason why I support H.R. 3229 is that the Judicial Conference has exercised its redaction authority with demonstrated restraint. As required by the Ethics in Government Act, the Conference has promulgated regulations requiring a clear nexus between a security risk and the need to redact sensitive information. In addition, the Act requires the Judicial Conference to report annually to Congress on the number and nature of redactions as well as the reasons for them. Based on a review of these reports, it is clear that only a small percentage of the financial disclosure reports filed contain an approved redaction of some information in the report. For example, less than 3 percent of financial reports contained an approved redaction of some information over the past 5 years. Finally, the need to extend this redaction authority--which will expire in just over 3 months--is a time-sensitive security matter that requires prompt consideration of H.R. 3229. Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3229, which will simply extend the Judicial Conference's current redaction authority for an additional 10 years. In closing, I want to commend Congressman Hakeem Jeffries for his leadership on this important legislation. We share his commitment to protecting the security of those public servants who serve in the federal judicial branch. Accordingly, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, H.R. 3697 is yet another exercise in false advertising by the Majority. Named the ``Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act,'' this legislation is so overbroad that it would lead to the deportation of immigrants with absolutely no criminal record and would apply to individuals with no connection to gangs. In short, this blatantly anti-immigration legislation casts a wide and dangerous net in furtherance of President Trump's mass deportation agenda. I say this for several reasons. To begin with, H.R. 3967 authorizes the Trump Administration to brand a group of immigrants a ``gang'' without requiring a conviction or even an arrest. In fact, it would allow individuals to be deported or denied admission based on a mere ``belief''--however tenuous--of their connection to unlawful activity. In addition, the bill's definition of a ``gang'' is so broad that it would apply to individuals who clearly are not members of criminal gangs. I doubt that my Republican colleagues really believe that 5 Christian ministers providing shelter to undocumented immigrants constitute a criminal gang. But by voting for this measure, that's precisely what lawmakers would turn them into. The bill instantly places such religious workers throughout America--from nuns to rabbis, imams to priests--into the same classification as MS-13. Finally, we are rushing this deeply flawed legislation through the House today while nearly 800,000 young people--800,000 law abiding members of our communities--are facing deportation in as little as 6 months. These are young people who are as American as any of us. They have grown up in our communities, attended our schools, and have become our neighbors, our teachers, first responders, doctors, and lawyers. But because of action taken by President Trump last week, they now are living in fear and uncertainty. There is a bipartisan bill with overwhelming support across the country that would allow these young people to remain in the United States the only home most have ever known--and continue contributing to our communities and our economy. But that bill, the DREAM Act, has languished for years. Nevertheless, instead of taking up the DREAM Act, we are rushing H.R. 3697 through just days after it was introduced and without any hearings, markups, or the opportunity for amendment. This House should stop jamming through pieces of the Trump mass deportation plan and instead recommit itself to lifting up the young people of our communities by passing the DREAM act. It is what's right for our economy, our Nation and it is our moral responsibility. I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 3697.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, jazz artist Ben Williams will be honored this year by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation at the Jazz Forum and Concert during the 47th Annual Legislative Conference. Mr. Williams, an internationally renowned bassist and composer, will also perform his Protest Anthology at the concert, which will take place on Thursday, September 21, 2017, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in Washington, D.C. Mr. Williams will receive the 2017 CBCF ALC Jazz Innovator Award for his highly creative and multi-faceted contributions to jazz and world culture. I am very proud to have known this very talented artist for many years. I am also pleased to share the following details of his impressive career as they appear in his biography. Ben's mother used to work in my Capitol Hill office. When she took Ben, an energetic and curious six-year-old, into the office on his school break, a watchful eye was in order. One afternoon, while rambling around my personal office, Ben discovered a huge object that instantly captured his imagination. The shiny upright bass was like nothing the kid had ever seen. He tapped on it. He popped a string. He climbed up on it. ``What is this thing?'' he wondered. Twenty years later, Ben Williams is still surprised at that chance meeting. ``Its low frequency attracted me,'' Williams recalls, ``the way the instrument felt when I touched it. Then later, just the feeling of playing a groove. When you play a bass the whole instrument vibrates. It almost feels like the spirit of another human being. It's like dancing with somebody and being in full contact with them. And the sound of the instrument appealed to me. It's warm and deep and it resonated with me.'' On the eve of his first CD, State of Art, Ben Williams had become one of the most sought after bassists in the world, his resume a who's who of jazz wisdom: Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride Big Band, Nicholas Payton, Paquito D'Rivera, Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Golson, George Duke, Eric Reed, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Hargrove, and Mulgrew Miller, to name a few. State of Art signaled Williams' emergence as a prominent voice in the greater jazz community. Ben's warm, woody tone, flowing groove, melodic phrasing, and storytelling approach has found favor among not just musicians, but also a larger audience. A bandleader, musical educator, composer, and electric and acoustic bassist, Ben was the winner of the 2009 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition, a prestigious and important award that has propelled many a promising career. Working with New York's finest jazz musicians even before graduating from Juilliard, Williams showcased his band, Sound Effect, at The Jazz Gallery in New York, receiving an enthusiastic New York Times review. Writer Nate Chinen stated, ``Williams took several long solos in his first set at The Jazz Gallery . . . and each one felt more like an entitlement than an indulgence.'' Williams has recorded and performed regularly as a member of bands led by saxophonist Marcus Strickland, pianist Jacky Terrasson, and vibraphonist Stefon Harris. He has led his own groups at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Harlem Stage, Rubin Museum of Art, Tribeca PAC in New York City, and SPAC in Saratoga Springs, NY. Growing up in a family of musicians, visual artists, and rappers, young Ben Williams didn't plan on being a bassist and band leader. He wanted to be a rock star. His heroes were Prince and Michael Jackson, not Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus. Once again, a chance meeting altered his future. ``I'd been playing piano by ear, but I wanted to play guitar,'' Williams recalls. ``My middle school offered a strings class where figured I could learn guitar. Then I got there and it was all violins and cellos--no guitars. So I choose the coolest instrument I saw, the bass. It just looked right.'' Williams was a natural. He excelled on both bass and piano, and once enrolled at the Duke Ellington High School of the Arts, he became a star student, performing in jazz band, gospel choir, and orchestra, as well as extracurricular gigs. Williams graduated with honors and with a Best in Instrumental Music Award. He won scholarships from the Fish Middleton Scholarship Competition of the East Coast Jazz Festival, the International Society of Bassist's Competition, the Steans Music Institute, the Duke Ellington Jazz Society, the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE), and the DC Public Schools City- Wide Annual Piano Competition. Williams received his Bachelor's in Music Education at Michigan State University in 2007, and his Master's in Music from the Juilliard School in 2009. ``In high school I dedicated myself to the bass and to jazz,'' Williams says. ``I knew this could be a profession, and if I could do what I love for a living--man, what is better than that? You always feel like a student playing jazz, there is so much to learn. There's never a point where you think you've arrived. I am trying to get better every day. Even Roy Haynes, when you see him play you get a sense that he is still trying to find new things.'' Like many self-aware jazz musicians, Ben Williams has several influences, from ``Wayne Shorter, Stevie Wonder and Duke Ellington'' to ``hip-hop and gospel, Little Dragon, Billy Joel, Marvin Gaye.'' And like his colleagues in the new guard of jazz, Williams is constantly looking ahead, seeking the music's potential and his place in it. ``I've worked with Stefon Harris' Blackout for the past few years,'' Williams cites. ``He has definitely been a huge influence in my concept of playing music. We have a similar viewpoint to music and jazz. He's very much about addressing modern times and not rehashing old material. To really interpret what is happening right now, a lot of jazz musicians are into hip-hop and R&B, but they don't put that into their music. We keep up with the times and we're not afraid to put that into our music.'' To other musician's music Williams brings his great natural skill and determination to explore, to expand boundaries while sustaining tradition. State of Art is a mature statement stamped with his voice, the next step in Ben Williams' evolution. ``I wanted to make an album that regular nine-to-five people could enjoy,'' Williams says; ``and to make a deep artistic statement as well. I like music that grooves, and I make sure that my music feels good.'' ``I always bring a certain energy to whatever the musical situation is,'' the soft-spoken musician adds. ``I try to be a team player and be supportive, but also, I try to add my voice to the situation. It's a fine balance between putting your stamp on things and being supportive. I've found that balance pretty well. ``The diversity of my musical upbringing has allowed me to be comfortable in many different musical situations. I don't try to sound like anyone else, I just try to be honest musically and bring a youthful spirit.'' Mr. Speaker, Ben Williams is an accomplished young artist and band leader that has made a lasting impression on jazz as an art and as a field. Ben Williams has become a national jazz treasure of international acclaim, and I urge all Members to join me in commending him for his magnificent contributions.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, the resolution I am introducing today expresses the sense of Congress that it and the states should consider a constitutional amendment to reform the Electoral College and to establish a process for electing the President and Vice President by a national popular vote. The resolution also encourages the states to further their efforts to form an interstate compact to award their Electoral College votes to the national popular vote winner. This Sunday, September 17 is Constitution Day, marks the 230th anniversary of the Philadelphia Convention's approval of the Constitution. We should rightly celebrate the day that the Framers endorsed the basic framework of our democratic system of government enshrined in our Nation's governing charter. Yet, we should also use this day as an opportunity to reflect on the fact that the Constitution still retains the Electoral College, a fundamentally anti-democratic process for electing our Nation's highest federal officeholders. On five occasions in our history, the Electoral College has permitted the national popular vote winner to lose the presidential election, including the most recent election, where Hillary Clinton won nearly 3 million more votes than Electoral College winner Donald Trump. This occurs because a presidential candidate needs only 270 electoral votes and 48 states award their electoral votes on a ``winner-take-all'' basis. As a result, the Electoral College creates perverse incentives for candidates that further distort the presidential campaign process in undemocratic ways. For example, the Electoral College encourages candidates to focus their campaign efforts on only a handful of so-called swing states. During the last presidential campaign, for example, both major party candidates largely bypassed three of the four states with the largest populations and skipped campaigning in 12 of the 13 smallest states as well. Additionally, the Electoral College is an anachronistic institution intended, in part, to protect the institution of slavery. According to Yale Law School Professor Akhil Reed Amar, who participated in a forum on Electoral College reform sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Democrats last year, the Electoral College was established, in part, to preserve the political influence of slaveholding states. Although enslaved populations were not allowed to vote, slave states insisted that three-fifths of enslaved persons be counted when determining a state's representation in the House, which in turn affected the number of Electoral College votes allotted to the state. Given its history and undemocratic nature, it is clear that the Electoral College system must be replaced with a process that determines the election of the president and vice president by a national popular vote. As such, Congress and the States should consider a constitutional amendment to reform the Electoral College. And, Congress should also encourage the States to reform the Electoral College through the formation of an interstate compact. Eleven states representing 165 electoral votes have already entered into an interstate compact to cast their electoral votes for the national popular vote winner. When enough states--representing 270 electoral votes--join the compact, the presidential election will essentially be determined by national popular vote, obviating the need for a constitutional amendment. In a democracy, no person's vote should be worth more than any other person's vote. Congress should affirm its commitment to this essential principle and definitively declare that the American people, not state- based Electors, should have the power to directly select the President and Vice President of the United States.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, trumpeter and composer Nicholas Payton will be honored this year by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation at the Jazz Concert that will take place during the 47th Annual Legislative Conference. Mr. Payton will perform at the concert with bassist Ben Williams, who will present his Protest Anthology. The concert will take place on Thursday, September 21, 2017, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in Washington, DC. Mr. Payton will also receive the 2017 CBCF ALC Jazz Legacy Award for his contributions to jazz and world culture. To acquaint you with his accomplishments, I am pleased to share the following biographical information from Mr. Payton's website. Like a master chef possessing a deft sense of proportion, taste and poetic flair, this forward-looking heir to the traditions of New Orleans blends an array of related musical food groups--Bebop, Swing, the Great American Songbook, New Orleans second-line, Mardi Gras Indian, Instrumental Soul, Rhythm-and-Blues, Urban, Hip-Hop, and various Afro-descended dialects of Central America and the Caribbean-- into a focused sound that is entirely his own argot. On his latest recording Afro-Caribbean Mixtape, propelled by keyboardist Kevin Hays, bassist Vicente Archer, drummer Joe Dyson, percussionist Daniel Sadownick, and turntablist DJ Lady Fingaz, Payton seamlessly coalesces his interests, drawing on a global array of beats, melodies and harmonic consciousness to serve his lifelong conviction that music is a process by which the practitioner uses notes and tones to map identity and tell a story. Payton states, ``I've incorporated elements from all the things I've written and spoken about for years. It speaks to the moment politically in an overt way that my other albums don't. On a musical-conceptual level, I think it's my greatest work thus far.'' Payton's aspiration to reclaim and redefine Black American Music fundamentals is a fulfillment of his birthright. He grew up across the street from Louis Armstrong Park, historically known as Congo Square, situated deep in the Treme, the neighborhood home base of many seminal New Orleans musicians and artists. In the 19th century, on Sundays only, enslaved Africans were allowed to gather in the public space of Congo Square to openly express African culture through singing, dancing and the playing of drums. Payton's mother, Maria, is a former operatic singer and a classically-trained pianist, who at 70, still performs in church; his father Walter, a bassist-sousaphonist and music educator was a mainstay on the Crescent City music and recording scene. He would take his young son to gigs. He gifted Nicholas a trumpet when he was four. ``Our house became a rehearsal space for whatever band my father was in,'' Payton recalls. ``We had a big living room and a grand piano, and other instruments. Trumpet appealed to me most of all the instruments I saw around, and I got one for Christmas when I was four.'' In just his childhood, Payton also became a proficient practitioner of tuba, trombone, woodwinds, piano, bass and drums. Before the age of 9, he sat-in with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, a unit formed at the turn of the century that specialized in traditional repertoire. By 11, he received his first steady gig in the All Star Brass Band, a group of peers led by Trombone Shorty's oldest brother, James Andrews, who were deeply influenced by the rhythmic and harmonic extensions of various bands. Mardi Gras Indian music was in his back yard, and he played no small number of rhythm-and-blues and hip-hop sessions. ``I played all sorts of music,'' Payton says. ``I did everything.'' As a small child, Payton took as role models the ``kool kats'' who attended his father's wee-hours rehearsals: drummers James Black and Herlin Riley; saxophonists Fred Kemp and Earl Turbinton; trumpeter Clyde Kerr, Jr.; and pianists Ellis Marsalis and Professor Longhair. Not long after joining the All Star Brass Band, Payton started digging into his father's record collection and came across Miles Davis' Four and More, with George Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. ``I put on the second side first, and from the moment I heard Tony's 8-bar intro on sock cymbal, I was like, `I want to play music for the rest of my life.' I listened to that record every day, to the point where I learned all the solos. I wasn't trying to transcribe them. I'd just listened to it so much that I learned all the music, every bassline, everything.'' ``After that, I listened to Freddie Hubbard, Red Clay, and then I went to Clifford Brown. Then I went to Louis Armstrong, who I wasn't really into at the time. Even though I was playing in brass bands, I saw myself as doing something more modern. Wynton Marsalis and Terence Blanchard were my hometown heroes. I wanted to go to New York and play with Art Blakey, and do what they did. But Wynton told me, `All that stuff you're checking out is cool, but you need to check out Pops.' I was like, `Man, I don't want to listen to that Uncle Tom music.' I thought about the handkerchiefs and bucking eyes, the things that were shameful and debilitating to Black people, and I didn't want any part of it. But through Wynton's influence, I started investigating Armstrong, and found Pops was the catalyst for all of this other stuff that I love and listen to. I developed a simpatico.'' On the strength of his New Orleans upbringing and various concert appearances playing Armstrong repertoire on Jazz at Lincoln Center engagements with Marsalis, Payton--who had already established bona fides as a consequential modernist trumpet voice as a member of Elvin Jones-led ensembles on various tours and albums (Youngblood, Going Home and It Don't Mean A Thing)--was soon branded as ``the second coming of Armstrong.'' With the 2001 Armstrong homage, Dear Louis, Payton said ``farewell to a perspective on playing music in terms of a repertory view of the masters,'' and hello to the notion ``that I would solely create music from my perspective as a young man in this world today.'' That perspective, he adds, ties directly to his formative New Orleans experiences. In 2014, Payton changed the name of his label from BMF to Paytone and released a trilogy of albums--Numbers, Letters, and Textures--that showcase the fruits of his decision a decade earlier to eschew the practice of writing tunes in favor of ``creating moods, distilling the compositional element to its most essential thing.'' He said: ``If a melody comes into my head while walking through an airport, I'll hum it into my Voice-Memo. If I dream a melody at night, I'll walk to the keyboards in my bedroom and play it into my phone or recorder. I stockpile these ideas, and quite an accumulation of motific themes have built up.'' Payton's ability to infuse early 20th century repertoire with idiomatic authority and life force elicited a comment from the late trumpeter Adolphus ``Doc'' Cheatham, who shared bandstands with the seminal pioneers of the 1920s and beyond, and was 91 when he recorded the Grammy-winning Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton in 1996. Doc described Payton, ``He is the greatest of the New Orleans-style trumpet players that I've ever heard. And every time I hear him, he sounds better and better. I haven't heard anybody like him since Louis Armstrong.'' Mr. Speaker, Nicholas Payton is a living jazz treasure and I urge all members to join me in commending him for his magnificent contribution to American and world culture.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize a great public servant and a brilliant jurist, Judge Damon J. Keith. Throughout his 50 years on the federal bench, Judge Keith has steadfastly and courageously protected the constitutional and civil rights of all Americans, and I am pleased that he will be honored tonight in a special event at the Supreme Court celebrating his outstanding career, and his service to the United States. Judge Keith was born on the Fourth of July in 1922. From an early age, he stood out as a scholar and an athlete. He graduated from Northwestern High School in Detroit, where he excelled in track and he went on to become the first in his family to earn a college degree, graduating from West Virginia State College in 1943. After serving in the U.S. Army for three years, he continued his education and earned his law degree from Howard University Law School in 1949. Judge Keith started his legal career in Detroit with the African- American law firm of Loomis, Jones, Piper & Colden, and he was one of six Detroit attorneys invited to the White House in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy to discuss the role of lawyers in the civil rights struggle. In 1967, he was appointed to the federal bench by President Lyndon Johnson, becoming only the second African-American to sit on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and in 1975, he rose to become Chief Judge of that court. During his tenure on the District Court, Judge Keith delivered several key civil rights rulings on such important issues as school desegregation, employment and housing discrimination, and affirmative action. In 1971, Judge Keith issued a landmark civil liberties ruling in U.S. v. Sinclair, which found wiretap surveillance absent a court order in domestic security cases to be unconstitutional. This case came to be known as the ``Keith decision'' and it was unanimously upheld by the United States Supreme Court. His ruling is also widely acknowledged as contributing to passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 1975, which placed important restrictions on government surveillance of Americans. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Judge Keith to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, where he has served with distinction. He took senior status in 1995, but he continues to be a vital member of that Court. Just last year, his impassioned dissent in a voting rights case gained national recognition, as he recounted the ugly history of voter suppression in this country, and he stood up for the rights of all Americans to have their voices heard at the ballot box. Judge Keith is well deserving of the numerous honors and awards he has received throughout his career, including: the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's highest award, the Spingarn Medal, in 1974; the American Bar Association's Thurgood Marshall Award in 1997; the Edward J. Devitt Award for Distinguished Service to Justice in 1998, presented by a panel comprised of a United States Supreme Court Justice, a federal circuit court judge, and a federal district court judge; and honorary degrees from Harvard University, Yale University, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, Tuskegee University, and over thirty other institutions. Tonight, a distinguished panel that includes former Attorney General Eric Holder will bestow one more honor, in recognition of his lifetime of service as a defender of the Constitution and the civil rights of all people. I am proud to call Judge Keith a mentor, a friend, and an inspiration.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Joseph Ehrenkrantz for his dedicated service to the House of Representatives. Over the past two years, he has diligently served the House Judiciary Committee. A 2014 graduate of the University of Maryland, Joe majored in English and Political Science. He began his career with the House Judiciary Committee Democrats shortly after graduation--initially as an intern and subsequently as a Professional Staff member. Joe has worked tirelessly on the full range of issues that come before the Committee. These include civil rights and voting rights, state and local taxation, constitutional issues, and investor visas. Joe was also charged with keeping track of innumerable legislative and oversight details concerning the Committee. He has performed all of these tasks with his customary energy and enthusiasm. Joe has also served the Committee with regard to a number of administrative matters. These include coordinating briefings, staffing hearings, organizing Minority forums, providing information technology assistance, clerking markups, helping coordinate the intern program, and providing general office management. His knowledge of Committee proceedings and procedure, coupled with his dedication to progressive priorities, has made him an integral member of our staff. We thank Joe for his many outstanding contributions to the House Judiciary Committee and the U.S. House of Representatives, and wish him well as he begins law school at Georgetown University this fall. He will surely be greatly missed.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 76. This resolution would grant the consent and approval of Congress for Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia to enter into a compact establishing the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission. I support this bipartisan measure for several reasons. Most importantly, this Commission will help improve the safety of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority--also known as WMATA, which provides transportation services for millions of people each year. Last year alone, nearly 180 million riders traveled on WMATA's commuter rail system. In fact, more than 760,000 riders used that system on just a single day in March of last year. Unfortunately, there have been a series of serious safety violations at WMATA in recent years, some of which have tragically led to deaths and injuries. Even though such dangerous conditions are obviously inexcusable, they nevertheless have persisted for many years. There are numerous causes, which range from aging infrastructure, years of neglected maintenance, uncertain funding, and poor oversight and management. In response to these critical concerns, the District of Columbia-- together with the states of Virginia and Maryland--have each passed legislation agreeing to enter into an interstate compact establishing an oversight commission dedicated to improving the safety of WMATA. Clearly, this undertaking will help ensure WMATA's passengers and workers--as well as the many communities that WMATA serves--have a safe, efficient, and reliable mass transit system. In addition, H.J. Res. 76 warrants our support because it implements Congress' 2015 directive to the states to establish legal and financially independent state oversight authorities responsible for the safety of fixed rail transit facilities within their respective jurisdictions. By granting our consent and approval of the interstate compact to be established pursuant to this Resolution, we are fulfilling our responsibility to help ensure the safety of our Nation's rail system. Finally, prompt consideration of H.J. Res. 76 is imperative not only because of ongoing safety concerns, but also because of financial concerns that serve to exacerbate the safety concerns. When Congress issued its 2015 directive, it did so with strings attached. A state's failure to comply with this directive would result in a suspension of federal rail transit funding. Accordingly, the Transportation Department's Federal Transportation Authority suspended its distribution of federal transit funds to the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia earlier this year and it continues to do so until the new safety commission is established. Thus, every day that goes by without action on this Resolution, is another day that these jurisdictions are deprived of critical federal funding. So, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting the immediate passage of H.J. Res. 76. The safety and reliability of our Nation's commuter rail transit system should be the standard for other metropolitan areas to aspire to. Unfortunately, much improvement is necessary to reach this critical goal. H.J. Res. 76, however, will hopefully provide an important opportunity to address the system's safety shortcomings. In closing, I want to thank Representative Steny Hoyer, the esteemed author of this critical legislation. His commitment and leadership are to be commended. Accordingly, I strongly support this bipartisan measure and urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it as well.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 92. This Resolution would grant Congress' consent to certain amendments to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact Authority pursuant to legislation enacted by the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, respectively. Congress originally consented to this Compact in 1960 and--from time- to-time--the Compact has been amended with Congress' consent, as needed. The current necessity for H.J. Res. 92 is prompted by the enactment of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015. In pertinent part, this Act gave sole authority to the Secretary of Transportation to appoint federal directors to the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact. To implement this directive, each of the Compact participants had to enact legislation amending the Compact. H.J. Res. 92 grants Congress' consent to these amendments to the Compact as approved by each of the participating states and the District of Columbia. This bipartisan measure, which effectuates Congress' directive of 2015, is cosponsored by all of the Congressional Members representing jurisdictions affected by the Metrorail system. I support this commonsense measure and I urge its swift passage. I commend Representative Comstock for her leadership on this important legislation and I thank House Judiciary Chairman Goodlatte for facilitating its timely consideration by both the Committee and the House.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren), and I ask unanimous consent that she may control that time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?