John Conyers

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt), who has worked continuously on this bill to improve it.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Michaud).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I now introduce for our closing speaker the distinguished gentleman from Florida, Mr. Bob Wexler, to have the balance of our time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. CONYERS. I yield myself 6 seconds before I yield the rest of the time to Mr. Berman. This is curious, here I am a son of Labor, out of Labor, represents Labor all my life, being told publicly that I don't represent the little guy from people whose connection with working people in collective bargaining movements is unknown. With that, I yield to my dear friend, Mr. Berman, for the remainder of our time.

Mr. CONYERS. Thank you. I want to assure the gentleman. Mr. Chairman, I would submit for the Record a letter dated September 7, 2007, between myself and the chairman of Ways and Means, Charles Rangel. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC, September 7, 2007. Hon. John Conyers, Jr., Chairman, Judiciary Committee, Washington, DC. Dear John: I am writing regarding H.R. 1908, the Patent Reform Act of 2007. During consideration of the bill by the Rules Committee, a manager's amendment was made in order that includes provisions affecting section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. As you know, section 337 falls within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. The Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over all issues concerning import trade matters. In order to expedite this legislation for floor consideration, the Committee will forgo action on this bill, and will not oppose the inclusion of this provision relating to section 337 of the Tariff Act within H.R. 1908. This is being done with the understanding that it does not in any way prejudice the Committee with respect to its jurisdictional prerogatives on this bill or similar legislation in the future. I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming this understanding with respect to H.R. 1908, and would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the Record. Sincerely, Charles B. Rangel, Chairman.

Mr. CONYERS. How much time remains?

Mr. CONYERS. I rise only to say to the distinguished previous speaker that this mistaken impression that this is being amended on the run is incorrect. And I'm glad you listened to the full debate, and I respect your position. The point that you think it's being amended on the run is that we had nearly 50 organizations in which we were negotiating with up until the last moment, and even now, sir. That's why we have a manager's amendment.

Mr. CONYERS. I will yield to the gentleman.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that, in the engrossment of the bill, H.R. 1908, the Clerk be authorized to correct section numbers, cross-references, punctuation, and indentation, and to make other technical and conforming changes as necessary to reflect the actions of the House.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 1908.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Let me assure the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Rogers), and everyone in the House, that I do not hate the Attorney General, and I do not hate the President of the United States. I disagree strongly with what they are doing and doing to the Constitution, but I do not hate them. I just want the Record to show that. I am offended by the gentleman suggesting this on the floor of the House. Secondly, I was advised by my friend from California that reverse targeting isn't in the bill, so we don't have to worry about it. Well, of course it isn't in the bill. If they did that, you would be over here arguing the same thing I am. But what is in the bill at section 105(a) is, nothing in the definition of electronic surveillance under section 101(f) shall be construed to encompass surveillance directed at a person reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States. There is your reverse targeting that is in this bill. They didn't name it that way, but I think we can read the English language sufficiently. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to Mr. Scott of Virginia, the chairman of the Crime, Terrorism, an Homeland Security Subcommittee on Judiciary.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota, Keith Ellison, 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I yield 1 minute to the majority leader of the House, Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. This measure fails because it allows targeting under section 105(a). This measure fails because it contains no guidelines that are missing in 105(b).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, we are pleased to yield to the gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. Steve Cohen, 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to recognize the chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee in Judiciary, Jerry Nadler of New York, and I am happy to yield to him 2 minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), a valued member of our committee. (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to continue the discussion raised by the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren) because he doesn't think that we're having constitutional problems that are legitimate over here. Now, he's been on both committees, so he knows that the FISA experts call reverse targeting the ability of the Attorney General to conduct surveillance on every American's calls with people abroad, with or without probable cause or warrant just by characterizing the surveillance as concerning persons abroad. He can claim that the target is abroad, but the real target is an American citizen in New York who is on the line, and this is called reverse targeting.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am introducing a bill to update and improve the codification of title 46 of the United States Code. Last year, Congress enacted H.R. 1442, which became Public Law 109-304. This legislation formally codified the various statutes in title 46 as positive law. As is typical with the codification process, a number of non-substantive revisions were made, including the reorganization of sections into a more coherent logical structure. As with all codification legislation, that law restated and replaced existing law as in effect on a particular date. While Congress was considering H.R. 1442, it was also considering four other pieces of legislation affecting title 46. These other bills were drafted in conformance with then-existing title 46, rather than title 46 as it would be revised. These four bills were enacted after the date specified in H.R. 1442, and thus were not reflected in P.L. 109-304. The Office of the Law Revision Counsel prepared this bill as part of its functions under 2 U.S.C. 285(b). It incorporates the four new laws into the codified title 46. It also makes other minor, non-substantive revisions and technical corrections to the codified title 46 to reflect subsequent public comments that were submitted too late to be reflected in P.L. 109-304. It is important to emphasize that this bill is not intended to make any substantive changes in the law. It is intended simply to update the codified title 46. The Committee on the Judiciary plans to act on this bill in the very near future, after providing an additional brief opportunity for public review and comment.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, Section 213 provides that Congress will receive annual reports regarding the extent to which lobbyists, lobbying firms and other registrants are complying with the amended Lobbying Disclosure Act. Under Section 213(a), the Comptroller General will annually review random samples of publicly-available registrations and reports filed by lobbyists, lobbying firms, and registrants and evaluate compliance by those individuals and entities with the Act. The use of the term ``publicly available'' in Section 213(a) is designed to ensure that the registrations and reports that the Comptroller General samples are the same registration and reports that are available to the public. Furthermore, the term ``publicly available'' also requires the Comptroller General to obtain copies of the registration and reports from the same public websites and in the same manner as the public obtains that information. This will better ensure that the information evaluated by the Comptroller General will be identical to the information the public obtains. Accordingly, Section 213 does not authorize the Comptroller General to request information from the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate, except pursuant to the same methods and procedures by which the public requests or obtains such information. Section 213 therefore does not authorize the Comptroller General to audit, investigate or review the Clerk's and/or Secretary's compliance with the Act, or their receipt, compilation, or dissemination, and/or review of information filed under the Act. The Comptroller General is expected to use appropriate judgment in assessing the size of the random sample and the manner of identifying the sample. The Comptroller General should ensure that the size and manner of its random sampling are designed to ensure that the sample adequately represents a fair and complete cross-section of all registrations and reports filed pursuant to the Act. Section 213(b) provides that the Comptroller General will submit annual reports by each April 1 to the Congress identifying the results of its analyses of the random samples, and also providing recommendations to the Congress to improve compliance with the Act by lobbyists, lobbying firms, and registrants. The reports shall also assess whether and to what extent the Department of Justice has sufficient resources and statutory authority to enforce the Act and, if not, recommendations regarding what specific resources or authorities Congress should provide to the Department of Justice. In complying with this Section, it is expected that the Comptroller General will consult with the Department of Justice. Section 213(c) provides the Comptroller General with the tools necessary to evaluate whether the information included by lobbyists, lobbying firms and registrants in the reports filed under this Act is accurate and complete, and thus whether these individuals and entities are complying with the Act. This subsection thus authorizes the Comptroller General to request and receive information from lobbyists, lobbying firms and registrants (and their employees). The information the Comptroller General may request from lobbyists, lobbying firms and registrants is broad and need only relate to the purposes of the Act. In other words, the Comptroller General is expected to request sufficient documentation from lobbyists, lobbying firms and registrants to fully evaluate whether the information contained on the registrations and reports filed by the lobbyists, lobbying firms and registrants is accurate and complete. This will often necessarily entail more information from the lobbyists, lobbying firms and registrants than is contained within the reports. Section 301 prohibits House Members from engaging in any agreements or negotiations with regard to future employment or salary until his or her successor has been selected unless he or she, within 3 business days after the commencement of such negotiations or agreements, files a signed statement disclosing the nature of such negotiations or agreements, the name of the private entity or entities involved, and the date such negotiations commenced with the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. It requires senior staff to notify the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct within 3 days if they engage in negotiations or agreements for future employment or compensation. The prospective employment or compensation negotiations or agreements in Section 301 are intended to refer only to those conducted with a private entity or private entities. Additionally, the negotiations and agreements referenced are intended to refer to actual bargaining over the terms of possible employment. Section 305 provides that Members shall be prohibited from attending national political convention parties that are held in their honor if such parties have been paid for by a lobbyist, or an entity that employs lobbyists, unless the Member is the party's presidential or vice presidential nominee. This provision will have the effect of preventing lobbyists or an entity employing such lobbyists from directly paying for a party to honor a specific Member.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3221, The New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act. This landmark Energy Independence legislation will help make our nation more secure by reducing our dependence on foreign oil; reduce costs to consumers by promoting greater efficiency and smarter technology; create new American jobs; and make our Nation a leader in reducing global warming. H.R. 3221 reduces our dependence on foreign oil in a number of important ways. It makes the largest investment in history to improve how we grow, produce, transport, and store biofuels that will fuel our cars and trucks. It provides a plug-in hybrid vehicle tax credit for individuals and encourages the domestic development and production of advanced technology vehicles and the next generation of plug-in hybrid vehicles. The initiative also includes tax incentives for biking to work, encourages people to take mass transit, and promotes cleaner buses, ferries, and trains. In addition, H.R. 3221 repeals subsidies and tax giveaways to Big Oil. The New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act contains a number of provisions to lower energy costs to consumers, including landmark energy efficiency provisions that would save consumers and businesses at least $300 billion through 2030. It would reduce energy costs to consumers through more energy efficient appliances, such as dishwashers, clothes washers, refrigerators and freezers and assist consumers with improving efficiency of existing homes, as well as building energy efficient new homes. H.R. 3221 also extends existing tax credits for the production of renewable energy, including solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydro, landfill gas and trash combustion, as well as creating new incentives for the use and production of renewable energy. The major investments in renewable energy technologies included in this bill have the potential to create 3 million new American jobs over 10 years. The bill creates an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program to train a quality workforce for ``green'' jobs. To spur innovation, H.R. 3221 creates an Energy Department agency to coordinate high-risk, high-payoff energy technology research and development that private industry is not likely to pursue on its own. The bill increases loan limits to help small business develop energy efficient technologies and purchases; provides information and assistance to small business to reduce energy costs; and increases investment in small firms that are developing renewable energy solutions. Finally, H.R. 3221 takes major steps to reduce global warming. Its energy efficiency provisions will not only save consumers and businesses money, but will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 10.4 billion tons through 2030, more than the annual emissions of all of the cars on the road in America today. This initiative calls on the U.S. to re-engage and lead the global effort on a binding global warming agreement, with commitments from all the major emitters including China, India, and Brazil. Because the federal government is the largest energy consumer in the United States, the bill promotes federal leadership on reducing global warming by requiring federal government operations to be carbon-neutral by 2050. These provisions will save taxpayers $7.5 billion through 2030. Finally, this initiative takes aggressive steps on carbon capture and sequestration to come up with a cleaner way to use coal. The United States must lead the way in developing this critical technology to reduce global warming throughout the world. I would also like to address the important amendment to this bill offered by Repesentatives Udall and Platts, which I will support. The Udall/Platts amendment creates a national renewable energy standard (RES) requiring electric utilities to provide a gradually increasing amount of their electricity through the use of renewable energy resources. A national RES would save consumers billions of dollars from lower energy bills and create tens of thousands of new jobs. The amendment's initial requirement, in year 2010, is 2.75 percent of a utility's electricity. This gradually increases to 15 percent by 2020. The amendment permits utilities to meet up to 27 percent of their targeted requirement through energy efficiency savings (the equivalent of up to 4 percent of the 15 percent requirement). It gives credit for existing renewables. In addition, utilities get credit for all actions taken pursuant to a state portfolio standard associated with renewable electric generation. I believe this gradual, flexible approach is a reasonable way to provide the right incentives and market signals to diversify our electricity supply with clean, renewable energy sources that will help keep our air and water clean and start us down a path that will combat global warming.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 2776. Every day we see the effects of global warming and it is imperative the Congress act on this critical issue. It is important that we continue to improve our environment as we strive to fight the effects of global warming. H.R. 2776 would implement tax incentives to encourage the production of renewable resources and other energy efficient programs, necessary measures towards fighting global warming. There are many groups, businesses and trade organizations who join me in supporting this bill including Greenpeace, General Electric, Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, and Whirlpool. H.R. 2776 will use tax credits and incentives to increase the use of renewable and alternative fuels. It will extend the renewable energy tax credit for those who choose to use renewable energy sources such as wind facilities, hydropower, and marine renewable energies. The bill will also continue providing the solar energy and fuel cell investment credit by extending a 30 percent investment tax credit for 8 years. Finally, this bill will provide tax incentives for renewable fuels such as biodiesel, renewable diesel, celloslosic alcohol. In addition, this legislation promotes the use of energy-efficient products to reduce the Nation's consumption of energy. It provides tax incentives for consumers to purchase energy efficient products such as hybrid vehicles and to outfit workplaces with energy efficient products. Manufacturers are also granted tax incentives encouraging them to create energy efficient products. H.R. 2776 builds a partnership between Federal, State, and local governments that would provide local authorities the ability to raise interest free funds for energy conservation programs in mass transit and green buildings. Furthermore, H.R. 2776 will increase funding to encourage the research and development of renewable energy. This bill provides billions to States to give low interest loan programs to working families to purchase energy-efficient appliances and energy-efficient home improvements such as solar panels, insulation or geothermal heat pumps. These energy saving improvements will dramatically reduce energy consumption. This legislation also grants interest free loans for research facilities and research grants for the development of celloslosic ethanol, cleaner carbon dioxide, and automobile battery technologies. H.R. 2776 also repeals a tax loophole. The bill limits the ability of oil and gas companies to claim foreign tax credits, while leaving significant tax breaks untouched. Yet, this provision has no impact on oil and gas production in the United States, providing additional revenue to the U.S. treasury. Mr. Speaker, Southeast Michigan has been hit hard due to the Bush administration's misguided trade policy. Governor Granholm unveiled a 21st century job initiative where billions of dollars will be invested in developing new technologies and emerging industries. In my hometown of Detroit, Next Energy, a 501 (c)3 organization that promotes renewable energy, will directly benefit from these tax breaks because they have made impressive strides in automotive and electric power. I believe, this piece of legislation will directly contribute to providing jobs to my constituents, end America's addiction to oil, and hopefully transform the automotive industry. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2776. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.