John Conyers

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield to a distinguished Member on the Judiciary Committee, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, for 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased now to recognize the gentleman from Alabama, a distinguished member of the Judiciary Committee, Artur Davis for 1\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased now to recognize the most distinguished civil rights leader that we have serving in the House of Representatives, the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. John Lewis. And I yield to him 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased now to yield to the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) for 1 minute. (Mr. CLYBURN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 seconds to respond to my dear friend from California (Mr. Lungren). The purpose of this hate crime bill is to supplement State and local actions. It is not to take over. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Hank Johnson, member of the Judiciary Committee, 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to the chairman of our caucus, Mr. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield 1 minute to a distinguished member of the Committee on the Judiciary from Houston, Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson-Lee. (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 1 minute to Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I apologize to my colleagues. We have twice as many requests for time than we have the time. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 30 seconds to the brilliant gentlelady from Oakland, California, Barbara Lee. (Ms. LEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to yield 1 minute to the majority leader, Mr. Hoyer.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor now to recognize the Speaker of the House, Ms. Nancy Pelosi, for 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield now for a unanimous consent request to the gentleman from Ohio. (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield 30 seconds to my dear friend from Maryland (Mr. Wynn).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize our brother from Missouri (Mr. Cleaver), himself a minister, for 30 seconds.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I now recognize the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin) for 30 seconds. (Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?

Mr. CONYERS. I am now pleased to recognize Lynn Woolsey of California for 30 seconds.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to conclude our debate by yielding our remaining time to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1868, The Technology Innovation and Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007. H.R. 1868 authorizes appropriations for scientific and technical research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010, strengthens and improves the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) initiative, and establishes the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) to assist U.S. businesses and institutions of higher education to accelerate development and application of challenging, high-risk technologies that promise widespread economic benefits. H.R. 1868 authorizes $365 million for MEP, a highly successful program that helps small and medium domestic manufacturers compete more effectively in the international marketplace. The goal of MEP is not only to maintain current manufacturing jobs, but also to nurture growth in the manufacturing sector to create additional jobs for American workers. The bill provides for an 8 percent increase per year in MEP appropriations, which would double program funding in 10 years. The Technology Innovation and Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007 also amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to establish an MEP board. The current national MEP board is established by the Secretary of Commerce, and has been woefully neglected for 3 years, not meeting at all in 2005 and 2006. NIST recently reconstituted the board, but most members are now from academia, not industry. H.R. 1868 would establish the MEP advisory board in statute, rather than at the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce, and would require majority representation from industry. My district and others across the country will benefit from funding research at National Institutes of Standards and Technology, strengthening the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and establishing the Technology Innovation Program, and I am pleased to be able to support it.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I rise to join in this discussion to congratulate my colleague from New Jersey Don Payne and my dear friend who brought this to my attention only yesterday from California (Ms. Lee). I am so pleased to hear this discussion going on commemorating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, but also the recognition of William Wilberforce, after whom the famous African American university, Wilberforce, was named, a distinguished member of the British House of Commons. What we are discussing here is not just ancient history. It is not just a recollection of why we have a 13th amendment to the Constitution prohibiting slavery. But we are talking about one of the great iniquities of our civilization. Slavery has always been a problem that we have dealt with across our centuries; but today and in countries all over the world, we are beginning to examine where it goes. We heard the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) recite present problems. We have heard the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) talk about things that lead us into conditions of such abject poverty that people are made vulnerable to the whole question of being subjugated and eventually so impoverished that they end up being oppressed or exploited. We know that many are still being trapped in trying to leave one country to improve their economic conditions, and they end up under false pretences in a forced work circumstance. Frequently, it's prostitution for young women. And for this 110th Congress, with these resolutions, H. Res. 272 and H. Res. 158, are now beginning to deal with this subject, not only in the present circumstance but examining the roots and the origins of this obnoxious, inhumane, indescribably evil circumstance in which we find men, women and children still under such oppression today. For that reason, I am proud to stand here as the chairman of the committee that has jurisdiction over our constitutional amendments and to join with the distinguished members of the Foreign Affairs Committee who recognize that after many unsuccessful attempts, the British Parliament finally abandoned and made slavery illegal, but finally, after a great deal of effort were able to stop it. It didn't stop because we passed a law. Slavery and second-class citizenship and the denial of the rights of Americans didn't stop because we passed the 13th amendment. It didn't even stop after we passed a series of Voting Rights Acts to enforce the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. So here we are today, again recommitting this Nation through the people's House to make certain that everyone understands how this came about, how the Atlantic slave trade was so evil and that its legacy lingers over this Nation today. I congratulate all of the leaders of these two measures and in commemorating the legacy and remembering this great Parliamentarian from England, William Wilberforce. Many of our predecessors worked, as tirelessly as we do, through the last couple centuries to deliver on the simple promise of freedom; but guess what, it doesn't turn on us just keeping people free. A free people have to become educated. They have to work. They have to raise their family. We have to put this enormously important consideration into the context of what it means. To be free is not free. To be free means that you can get educated to compete in a computerized technology. It means to be able to be healthy and to live and grow to make everyone have this wonderful opportunity. It was said so then to every man and woman and child the chance, the chance, the gold shining opportunity to become whatever they could in the course of one's life. We celebrated the life yesterday of our dearest colleague Juanita Millender-McDonald as she was memorialized in Los Angeles. What a dynamic, unusual, amazing circumstance of a young girl from Alabama transporting herself to the first elected chairwoman of color of the House Administration Committee. These are the kinds of opportunities that are open to us, to the 43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who all have equally poignant stories. We have an African American chairman who had to join the Army because he could not get a job. That is existing today. It is in that spirit of looking back and yet confronting the realities that I am so proud to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have made this an important day to remember, to reflect on and to plan how we move the condition and the plight of all 300 million of our citizens forward. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding me this time.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Will the gentleman from North Carolina yield to me?

Mr. CONYERS. First of all, I wanted to congratulate the gentleman on the persistence and integrity with which he has followed this matter. I have had this brought to my attention. I did have an opportunity to meet with some of the family, and I want to assure you that we are coordinating our activities with the Senate Judiciary Committee with those of my House Judiciary Committee; and I promise to keep you fully apprised as this matter moves forward. I congratulate you, not just for what you have done for these two officers, but what you have done for law enforcement officers across this country. It's important that the kinds of concerns you have raised are known to all of our men and women who carry badges and weapons defending us, not just at borders, but in every State in the Union. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Members of the House, I rise today to express my gratitude for having known and worked with Jack Valenti, who passed away last week after a lifetime that included serving as a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps, flying 51 combat missions as the pilot commander of a B-25 attack bomber, a man who was a senior aide in the Lyndon Baines Johnson White House, serving as the first special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson, and as president of the Motion Pictures Association of America. In 2004, Mr. Valenti reflected on his extraordinary career when he said, ``I'm the luckiest guy in the world, because I spent my entire public working career in two of life's classic fascinations, politics and Hollywood. You can't beat that,'' he said. Nothing about Jack Valenti was average. He started his adult life as an Army B-25 pilot in World War II, flying many combat missions over Italy. He returned from the war with numerous decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four clusters representing additional awards. After the war, while working full time, Jack Valenti earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Houston, and then went on to Boston where he earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. Known as one of the most influential lobbyists in Washington, he headed the Motion Picture Association for 38 years. During that time, I had the opportunity to work with him on a number of projects, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which ensured protection for intellectual property in order to allow the rollout of digital technology. Mr. Valenti is also well known for creating the film rating system which assigned for the first time a rating to films. In other words, he created a system that would let them voluntarily categorize their films rather than requiring that we do it by legislation. His political career was by no means mundane, either. Before he went to the Motion Picture Association, he served as the first special assistant to President Johnson, and was in the motorcade on November 22, 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. He then boarded Air Force One with President Johnson and was there for the famous picture of President Johnson being sworn in, and he became President Johnson's special assistant. After a lifetime of achievement, while most people would be more than ready to retire, Jack Valenti turned his energy toward a cause he had been concerned about for many years, and began leading in the fight against HIV and AIDS. He became president of the nonprofit Friends of the Global Fight, whose main goal is to support the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Thankfully, we will all be able to read about Jack's enormous accomplishments and fascinating life, because he just finished his memoir before passing, which is entitled, ``This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House and Hollywood.'' It will soon be published. While most people with this amount of influence may be too busy for many, Jack Valenti defied this stereotype by continuing to be both a mentor and friend to almost everyone with whom he came in contact. He kept his promises, promptly returned phone calls, and is described as generous, loyal, and honest by those who knew him. It is an understatement to that say Jack Valenti will be sorely missed.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to remind the world that the 24th of April marks the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a systematic and deliberate campaign of the Ottoman Empire to exterminate an entire people. I also rise to reaffirm my support for the adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H. Res. 106. This legislation contains a long list of U.S. and international involvement against the Armenian Genocide of 1915.