John Conyers

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume merely to thank the leaders of this measure, Messrs. Scott and Keller, for moving. For once we've got in front of a problem before something has gone wrong and have a tragedy in the air that would send us rushing back to the floor to pass this very measure that we are passing today, I hope. Mr. Speaker, it is out of that pride that I thank everyone on the Judiciary Committee that played a role in this matter. And as has been pointed out, it doesn't matter whether it is a prank or whether it is sabotage, this prospective law gets the word out to everybody that these laser beams are dangerous when being flashed on planes or pilots in the air. The catastrophe is unthinkable. I congratulate my colleagues, and I ask the Members to join all of us in support of this legislation.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 214) to amend chapter 35 of title 28, United States Code, to preserve the independence of United States attorneys.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks and to give all Members 5 legislative days to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to describe this measure, Senate bill 214, as an important one that will restore historical checks and balances to the process by which interim U.S. attorneys are appointed. It will repair a breach in the law that has been a major contributing factor to the recent termination of at least nine talented and experienced United States attorneys and their replacement with interim appointments. The full circumstances surrounding these terminations are still coming to light. It is a process being given much attention by the Committee on the Judiciary. But much of the information is well known, and is also considerably troubling. One U.S. attorney was fired to make way for a political operative who endeared himself to Mr. Karl Rove doing opposition research in the Republican National Committee. Others were apparently fired because they were not sufficiently partisan in the way they used these powers to investigate and prosecute alleged voting fraud. Now, I don't need to tell anybody in this body how important voting is to the democratic process. These reports are particularly troubling because of the awesome power the United States attorneys, 93 of them in total, are entrusted with. They seek convictions. They negotiate plea agreements. They can send citizens to prison for years. They can tarnish reputations. They can destroy careers with the mere disclosure that a person is under criminal investigation. We, in this country, must have full confidence that these powers are exercised with complete integrity and free from improper political influence. Unfortunately, sometimes this is not the case. These troubling circumstances that have been revealed were made possible by an obscure provision, quietly and secretly slipped into the PATRIOT reauthorization conference report in March of last year at the behest of the Justice Department's top political appointments, to enable them to appoint interim temporary U.S. attorneys without the customary safeguard of Senate confirmation. Mr. Speaker, what this measure does is restore the checks and balances that have historically provided a critical safeguard against politicization of the Department of Justice and the United States attorneys, limiting the Attorney General's interim appointments to 120 days only, then allowing the district court for that district to appoint a U.S. attorney until the vacancy is filled, with Senate confirmation required, as historically has been the case. Now, Members of the House, we have already passed similar legislation. While I would prefer to see our version enacted into law, we are taking up the Senate-passed version in order to expedite the enactment of this important step in restoring legal safeguards against the abuse of executive power to politicize the Federal prosecutorial function in the Department of Justice. I wanted to single out my colleague from California, Howard Berman, a senior member of the committee, for his role in fashioning not only the original version, but the one that we have before you to agree upon. Mr. Speaker, at this point, I would reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to introduce and give as much time as he may consume to the chairman of the Intellectual Property Subcommittee on the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Howard Berman.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) a subcommittee chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I was hoping that our colleague from the Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Artur Davis, would be able to join us in this debate because he worked very diligently with Mr. Berman and Ms. Lofgren. Mr. Speaker, while United States attorneys owe their appointments to the President, once they are appointed, their enforcement decisions must be unquestionably above politics. This is an irony that exists, but it is something that must be zealously complied with if we are to have a law enforcement system that can be regarded as faithful to the Constitution and to the laws of the land and to protect the American people. The Senate confirmation in an open and public process is one way we safeguard against politicizing the prosecutors in the Department of Justice. That safeguard was severely compromised by the secret change in section 546. What we will do now is restore that safeguard and honor the system of checks and balances. Mr. Speaker, I am confident that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support this important consideration.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2264) to amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal, as amended.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill now under consideration.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, gas prices have now reached an all-time record high, topping even the 1981 spike in price that had stood as the record high for 26 years. According to the Energy Information Administration, the nationwide price of unleaded regular gas hit $3.22 a gallon, 11.5 cents higher than last week's price. In Michigan, it is even higher than that. Today's record-breaking price, one in an unending series of continuous price hikes over the past month, is hurting Americans in their pocketbooks, and we have got to do something about it. Retailers across the Nation are saying that soaring gas prices are prompting consumers to cut back on their shopping trips and their purchases. We are told this won't be the end of these skyrocketing price hikes either. The AAA forecasts that more record prices are probably on the way, especially as the summer begins, which is usually the busiest driving season of the year. In Michigan, gas prices have reached their highest levels ever at $3.27 a gallon. Michigan is now the third most expensive State for gasoline in the country, behind California and the State of Illinois. Last week, in an effort to help address this crisis, the House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Task Force examined the OPEC cartel and its impact on the price of gas. OPEC accounts for two-thirds of the world's oil reserves and more than 40 percent of the world's oil production, but, even more significantly, OPEC oil exports represent 70 percent of all the oil traded internationally. You know what that means. This affords OPEC, obviously, considerable control over the global market. Its net oil export revenues should reach nearly $395 billion in this year alone, and its influence on the oil market is dominant, especially when it decides to increase or reduce the levels of production. For years now, OPEC's price-fixing conspiracy, and that is what I call it, a conspiracy, has unfairly driven up the price and cost of imported crude oil to satisfy the greed of oil exporters. We have long decried OPEC, but, sadly, the administration has done little or nothing to stop this. So now the time has come. It is time for us to do something to point them in the right direction. We have got to get ahold of this economic crisis. The cries are rising up in every congressional district in the Nation, so your Committee on the Judiciary has produced H.R. 2264, with the help of Mr. Chabot and Mr. Keller and other Members, to make clear that the oil cartel nations that are colluding to limit crude oil production as a means of fixing its price is illegal under United States law, just as it would be for any company engaging in the same conduct. It clarifies and reaffirms the law in several critical respects: First, it exempts OPEC and other nations from the provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to the extent those governments are engaged in price fixing and other anticompetitive activities. Second, H.R. 2264 makes clear that the so-called ``act of state'' doctrine does not in any way prevent courts from ruling on antitrust charges brought against foreign governments, and that foreign governments are ``persons'' subject to suit under the antitrust laws. Third, it explicitly authorizes the Department of Justice to bring lawsuits in Federal court against oil cartel members. Ladies and gentlemen, we, on behalf of the American people, have had enough. These price rises are not something that we have to merely humbly drive into the gas station and look at the new, increased cost. We don't have to stand by and watch OPEC dictate the price of our gas without any recourse whatsoever. We can do something about it to combat this blatantly anticompetitive, anticonsumer behavior, and we are. I urge Members to carefully consider the legislation that is now being debated on the House floor. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) whose State has been most affected by the subject matter we are here on the floor considering.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the distinguished Judiciary member from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

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

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bishop).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, may I close with this observation. It was in 1978 that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers sued OPEC under the Sherman Antitrust Act, but the case was rejected because the Court said that OPEC could not be prosecuted under the Sherman Act due to the foreign sovereign immunity protection clause it claimed for its member states. I'm here to announce on the floor, as modestly as I can, that that decision was in error. Government-owned companies that engage in purely business activities do not warrant sovereign immunity protection according to prevailing legal doctrines, and so what we do in this measure is that we don't start a lawsuit against OPEC. We merely authorize for the first time by law the Department of Justice to, when in their good judgment they choose to be able to do that. These high prices facilitated by OPEC serve to transfer wealth from Western consumers to petroleum producers, and I have this on the very conservative words of the Heritage Foundation itself. I will insert this in the Record at this point. [From The Heritage Foundation, May 21, 2007] Time for Congress To Lift OPEC's Immunity (By Ariel Cohen) This week, the House is likely to pass the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007 (NOPEC, H.R. 2264). This bill, sponsored by Representatives John Conyers (D-MI) and Steve Chabot (R-OH), would allow the federal government to sue the Organization for Petroleum Exporting States (OPEC) for antitrust violations. Similar legislation (S. 879) is pending in the Senate, sponsored by Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Arlen Spector (R-PA). At a time when oil prices are climbing to ever-higher levels, fighting OPEC's anticompetitive practices would be a welcome first step towards reestablishing the free market in this strategically important sector. This is long overdue and points the way toward a second step: allowing private antitrust suits against OPEC. The Intolerable Status Quo. Since its inception in 1960, OPEC, which is dominated by Persian Gulf producers, has successfully restricted its member states' petroleum production, artificially distorting the world's oil supply to line its members' pockets. Member states' production quotas are determined at semi-annual meetings of members' petroleum ministers and are at times changed through telephone consultations. Several times, this supply-fixing strategy has brought devastation to the U.S. and global economies: In 1973, OPEC's actions in response to U.S. support for Israel, which was attacked in the Yom Kippur War, resulted in a worldwide economic recession that lasted from 1974 to 1980. In 1980, OPEC's failure to increase production in the face of the Iranian revolution resulted in historically high oil prices of $81 per barrel (in 2005 dollars). In 1990, OPEC refused to increase production sufficiently to keep prices stable as Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait. Lately, OPEC's resistance to add productive capacity has sent oil prices to $70 a barrel, once again endangering economic growth worldwide. The cartel's operations ensure that its members' oil and gas economies remain insulated from foreign investment flows. Members of OPEC have not worked to enhance the rule of law and property rights and have imposed severe restrictions to prevent foreign investors from owning upstream production assets (oil fields and pipelines). This is a testament to the cartel's de facto monopoly over the petroleum market. Indeed, the only serious challenge to the organization came in 1978 when a U.S. non-profit labor association, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), sued OPEC under the Sherman Antitrust Act, in IAM v. OPEC. But the case was rejected in 1981 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. OPEC, the court affirmed, could not be prosecuted under the Sherman Act due to the foreign sovereign immunity protection it claimed for its member states. That decision was wrong. Government-owned companies that engage in purely business activities do not warrant sovereign immunity protection according to prevailing legal doctrines. High oil prices, which OPEC facilitates, serve to transfer wealth from Western consumers to petroleum producers. This wealth transfer funds terrorism through individual oil wealth and government-controlled ``non-profit'' foundations. It also permits hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent on radical Islamist education in madrassahs (Islamic religious academies). Furthermore, the oil-cash glut in the Gulf states and elsewhere empowers resistance to much-needed economic reform in oil-producing countries. State subsidies for everything from health care to industry to bloated bureaucracy continue unabated, funded by Western consumers. Congress Gets Into Action. Growing concerns over energy prices have prompted Congress to examine the legal hurdles that prevent the United States from defending its economic and national security interests. In the early part of 2005, a group of senators led by Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) introduced the ``No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act'' (S. 555), known as NOPEC, to amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal. The bill has now returned the Senate calendar. The House and Senate now have a unique opportunity to: Join forces in defending American businesses and consumers. NOPEC would send a strong and long-overdue signal to OPEC oil barons that they must stop limiting production and investment access. Allow private suits against OPEC. If OPEC is to be reined in, individuals and companies that it has damaged must also be allowed to bring suits against the cartel. As the International Association of Machinists (IAM) v. OPEC made clear, Congress must amend the Sherman Act to allow these suits. Reform should not begin and with the DeWine-Kohl legislation. Conclusion. The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007 would place much needed pressure on OPEC. It is time for the cartel to cease its monopolistic practices. Otherwise the American People can expect more of the same from OPEC-- insufficient production and higher energy bills. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of passage of H.R. 1427, ``The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act.'' I believe this legislation is one of the most cost-effective ways to provide cities across the country with desperately needed federal funding so they can construct or renovate housing stock for working families on public housing waiting lists, homeless veterans, homeless Katrina victims, and homeless working families. I believe that passage of this legislation is a ``historic'' moment in this Congress, and makes me proud to be a member of this body. In Detroit, there are thousands of working individuals and families living in homeless shelters or staying with friends and extended family members because they cannot afford the skyrocketing costs of private market housing. We have a homeless shelter in Detroit where hundreds of veterans live each year, and most are working minimum wage jobs, or work in low to moderate wage employment. It is a moral outrage that soldiers who have fought in wars and served their country honorably come home to cities like Detroit, only to find out that they cannot afford an apartment or a home. This bill will help reduce these problems, and provide decent affordable housing to more veterans and working families without raising taxes. It will also help victims of Katrina who are currently living in hotels or homeless shelters in other cities to return to the Gulf Coast, or remain where they are, because there will be expanded housing opportunities due to passage of H.R. 1427. Passage of ``The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act'' will provide billions of dollars to cash-starved cities across the Nation to successfully build new affordable housing units for working families by utilizing existing non-profit housing developers, public housing agencies, and for-profit housing developers. Passage of H.R. 1427 will help hundreds of thousands of Americans across this Nation who are currently on waiting lists for public housing to be able to get out of homeless shelters and into homes or apartments, since there will now be more federal funding for affordable housing production. If America is ever to be a great Nation, we must ensure that all Americans, as a basic human right, have decent and affordable housing. Passage of H.R. 1427 will get our Nation on the road to having a real national affordable housing policy, which we currently do not have. The United States, the wealthiest country in the world, shamefully has one million homeless children, and over 40 percent of those living in homeless shelters are working in jobs. Our current affordable housing problem is building more homeless shelters where there is a lack of affordable housing. I ask this question Mr. Chairman. How many Members of Congress would want to come home after a hard day's work, and sleep in a homeless shelter? Probably nobody! We need affordable housing for all now. I urge this body to pass H.R. 1427 with all deliberate speed.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, today is a historic day. After years of rising deficits and draconian Republican budgets, the vote on the Budget Conference Report finally puts us on the right course. The Democratic budget will take America in a new direction by funding national priorities such as health care services, educational programs, and veterans services while providing middle class tax assistance. The Democratic budget rejects the Administration's attempts to cut funding to many social programs that support American children and families such as State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), Pell grants, Medicare, and Medicaid. This forward looking budget will help all Americans progress towards social and economic security. The Democratic budget will also provide tax relief for middle-income workers and will extend popular tax credits such as the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, and more deductions for state and local sales taxes. After our troops have defended our great country, we need to give our servicemen and veterans the best possible health care. The budget provides sufficient funds to treat traumatic injuries and improve health care facilities for veterans, as well as to treat the more than twenty-six thousand service members who have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Funding measures to veterans healthcare is a well deserved and necessary expense providing $3.6 billion above the President's proposal. Mr. Speaker, many Americans have economic concerns, and are seeking leadership from us, the people's House, the United States Congress. After six years of misplaced priorities, the Democratic budget resolution seeks to provide services and support that are essential to the well-being of the American people; millions who are hard working tax paying citizens that deserve some well justified and reasonable assistance. This legislation is clearly the people's budget.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of passage of H.R. 1427, ``The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act.'' I believe this legislation is one of the most cost effective ways to provide cities across the country with desperately needed federal funding so they can construct, or renovate housing stock for working families on public housing waiting lists, homeless veterans, homeless Katrina victims, and homeless working families. I believe that passage of this legislation is a ``historic'' moment in this Congress, and makes me proud to be a member of this body. In Detroit, there are thousands of working individuals and families living in homeless shelters or staying with friends and extended family members because they can not afford the skyrocketing costs of private market housing. We have a homeless shelter in Detroit where hundreds of veterans live each year, and most are working minimum wage jobs, or work in low to moderate wage employment. It is a moral outrage that soldiers who have fought in wars and served their country honorably come home to cities like Detroit, only to find out that they can not afford an apartment or a home. This bill will help reduce these problems, and provide decent affordable housing to more veterans and working families without raising taxes. It will also help victims of Katrina who are currently living in hotels or homeless shelters in other cities to return to the Gulf Coast, or remain where they are, because there will be expanded housing opportunities due to passage of H.R. 1427. Passage of ``The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act'' will provide billions of dollars to cash starved cities across the Nation to successfully build new affordable housing units for working families by utilizing existing non-profit housing developers, public housing agencies, and for-profit housing developers. Passage of H.R. 1427 will help hundreds of thousands of Americans across this Nation who are currently on waiting lists for public housing to be able to get out of homeless shelters and into homes or apartments, since there will now be more federal funding for affordable housing production. Passage of ``The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act'' will provide $600 million per year to cash starved cities across the Nation and could create approximately 8,000 new affordable housing units for working families by utilizing existing non-profit housing developers, public housing agencies, and for-profit housing developers. If America is ever to be a great nation, we must ensure that all Americans, as a basic human right, have decent and affordable housing. Passage of H.R. 1427 will get our Nation on the road to having a real national affordable housing policy; which we currently do not have. The United States, the wealthiest country in the world, shamefully has one million homeless children, and over 40% of those living in homeless shelters are working in jobs. Our current affordable housing problem is building more homeless shelters where there is a lack of affordable housing. I ask this question, Mr. Chairman. How many Members of Congress would want to come home after a hard day's work, and sleep in a homeless shelter? Probably nobody! We need affordable housing for all now. I urge this body to pass H.R. 1427 with all deliberate speed.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Michigan, Bart Stupak, for all that he has done with our committee, and with the Republicans on the subcommittee on the Judiciary Committee who worked so well on this. I rise of course in support of H.R. 692 to honor fallen men and women who gave their lives to our Nation while on duty in the armed services. As a veteran myself, I can appreciate this bill as much as anyone in the House. This 22-year-old soldier for whom the bill was named came from Bart Stupak's district, and gave his life on July 8, 2006. He was killed by an improvised explosive device that detonated near his vehicle during combat operations in Iraq. This measure before us simply amends current law to add heroes like Specialist Micks to the list of persons in whose honor the flag may be flown at half-staff. It specifies that a Governor's proclamation ordering the flag to be flown at half-staff, consistent with this measure, would apply to all Federal installations and facilities in the State. Over the last 4 years, at least 10 soldiers from Mr. Stupak's district have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, and yet the national flags on some Federal buildings were not lowered in their honor, to the dismay of the family members and friends of these brave soldiers. So the measure ensures that our Nation's fallen military heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our Nation are appropriately honored and acknowledged.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 916) to provide for loan repayment for prosecutors and public defenders, as amended.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.