John Conyers

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I begin by thanking Mr. Frelinghuysen and Mr. Visclosky in conducting the amendments around these important considerations. This amendment that I propose this evening limits arms, training, and other assistance to the neo-Nazi Ukrainian militia, the Azov Battalion. Foreign Policy magazine has characterized the 1,000-man Azov Battalion as ``openly neo-Nazi'' and ``fascist.'' Numerous other news organizations, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and the Associated Press have corroborated the dominance of White supremacist and anti-Semitic views within the group; yet Ukraine's Interior Minister recently announced the Azov Battalion will be among the units to receive training and arms from Western allies, including the United States. Azov's founder, Andriy Biletsky, organized the neo-Nazi group the Social-National Assembly in 2008. Azov men use neo-Nazi symbolism on their banner. These groups run counter to American values, and once the fighting ends, they pose a significant threat to the Ukrainian Government and to the Ukrainian people. As we have seen many times, most notably within the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan, these groups will not lay down their arms once the conflict is over. They will turn their arms against their own people in order to enforce their hateful views. I urge the support of my amendment and to make it U.S. law that we will not equip this dangerous neo-Nazi militia.

Mr. CONYERS. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.

Mr. CONYERS. I thank the gentleman from Indiana.

Mr. CONYERS. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. CONYERS. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the life and career of my friend and fellow Detroiter, Marcus Belgrave, who passed away last Sunday, May 24th. Mr. Belgrave was a consummate gentleman; a legendary jazz impresario; and a gifted player, composer, and teacher. It is difficult to fathom how one achieves all that Marcus did--he started his career at just 18 years old, playing with Ray Charles. He went on to share the stage with luminaries like Ella Fitzgerald, Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Eric Dolphy, Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, and Joe Henderson. Everyone has heard the power of his talent in Motown classics like ``My Girl'' and ``Dancing in the Street.'' As a Jazz Ambassador, Marcus Belgrave carried his American sound to Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. But he was not just a musician, not just a composer--he was a mentor of the highest order. He taught Jazz to some of our greatest contemporary artists, including Geri Allen, Regina Carter, Kenny Garnett, Robert Hurst, and Karriem Riggens. Virtually every Jazz artist to come out of Detroit in the past 50 years was influenced by Marcus. Though he may be gone and his trumpet is finally silent, his talent and voice will continue to inspire new generations through the lives he helped shape. His shadow will loom large over every Detroiter who picks up the trumpet. He will also live on through the institutions of Jazz that he founded, chartered, and fostered. He was an original member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He established the Jazz Development Workshop and Jazz Studies program at the Detroit Metro Arts Complex. He served as a Professor of Jazz at Oberlin College in Ohio. Motown would not have been the same without him. Detroit's place in Jazz history would not be the same without him. The world lost a living legend last week, and Detroit lost a champion. But Mr. Belgrave lived his life in such a way that he will remembered forever. I offer my heartfelt condolences to his wife Joan, his children, and all the family, friends, and fans who mourn the passing of a legend.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.

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

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker and Members of the House, this legislation is a dangerous and far-reaching attack on a woman's constitutional right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy, a right that the Supreme Court guaranteed 42 years ago in the case of Roe v. Wade. One of the most significant problems with this legislation is that it fails to include any exception for a woman's health. Many serious health conditions materialize or worsen late in pregnancy, including damage to the heart and kidneys, hypertension, and even some forms of hormone-induced cancer; yet, by failing to include a health exception, H.R. 36 would force a woman to wait until her condition was nearly terminal before she could obtain an abortion to address her health condition. In addition, H.R. 36 is unconstitutional based on longstanding Supreme Court precedent. I will explain. Roe v. Wade's basic holding is that a woman has a constitutional right to have an abortion prior to the fetus' viability. Viability is generally considered to be around 24 weeks from fertilization, not 20 weeks. By banning previability abortions, H.R. 36 is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade. In addition, Roe made clear that any regulation on abortion, even after viability, must not pose a substantial risk to the woman's health; but, as I have already noted, H.R. 36 lacks any exception to protect a pregnant woman's health. It is, therefore, not surprising that the Nation's leading civil rights organizations, medical professionals, and women's groups oppose this bill. In addition, 15 religious organizations noted in a letter to Members of Congress opposing nearly identical legislation in the last Congress that ``the decision to end a pregnancy is best left to a woman in consultation with her family, her doctor, and her faith.'' Finally, I want to be clear that, contrary to assertions made by the bill's proponents, this legislation still contains a woefully inadequate exception for victims of rape. The so-called rape exception is still based on a complete lack of understanding of the very real challenges rape survivors face and why a rape may go unreported. It is also grounded in the distrust of women, assuming that women cannot be trusted to tell the truth or to make the best medical decisions for themselves and their families. For adult rape survivors, the bill no longer requires that the rape be reported to law enforcement. However, a woman must still obtain counseling 48 hours prior to the abortion, and the fact that she has obtained counseling for a rape must be certified and documented in her medical file. This counseling cannot be obtained in the same facility where the abortion is provided. For minor victims of rape or incest, an exception from the bill's onerous and unconstitutional restrictions only applies if the rape has been reported to law enforcement or ``a government agency legally authorized to act on reports of child abuse,'' so rape is not rape unless the minor has reported it, even if that means putting her own safety at risk. For these reasons, my colleagues, I urge opposition to this dangerous legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. DelBene), a distinguished member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Houston, Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a distinguished member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen), and that he may control that time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Ladies and gentlemen, with the passage of the USA FREEDOM Act today, the House will have done its part to enact historic and sweeping reforms to the government's surveillance program and powers. This legislation ends bulk collection, creates a panel of experts to guide the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and mandates extensive government reporting. Today we have a rare opportunity to restore a measure of restraint to surveillance programs that have simply gone too far. For years the government has read section 215 of the PATRIOT Act to mean that it may collect all domestic telephone records merely because some of them may be relevant at some time in the future. Last week, endorsing a view that I and many of my colleagues have held for years, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that ``the text of section 215 cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign it, and it does not authorize the telephone metadata program.'' Now, with section 215 set to expire on June 1, we have the opportunity--and the obligation--to act clearly and decisively and end the program that has infringed on our rights for far too long. A vote in favor of the USA FREEDOM Act is an explicit rejection of the government's unlawful interpretation of section 215 and similar statutes. Put another way, a vote in favor of this bill is a vote to end dragnet surveillance in the United States. Mr. Speaker, the ban on bulk collection contained in this legislation turns on the idea of a ``specific selection term'' and requires the government to limit the scope of production as narrowly as possible. This definition is much improved from the version of this bill that passed the House last Congress. The bill further requires the government to declassify and publish all novel and significant opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. It also creates a panel of experts to advise the court on the protection of privacy and civil liberties, communications technology, and other legal and technical matters. These changes, along with robust reporting requirements for the government and flexible reporting options for private companies, create a new and inescapable level of that all-important consideration of transparency. The government may one day again attempt to expand its surveillance power by clever legal argument, but it will no longer be allowed to do so in secret. Mr. Speaker, there are Members of the House and Senate who oppose this bill because it does not include every reform to surveillance law that we can create, and then there are others who oppose it because it includes any changes to existing surveillance programs. This bill represents a reasonable consensus, and it will accomplish the most sweeping set of reforms to government surveillance in nearly 40 years. H.R. 2048 has earned the support of privacy advocates, private industry, the White House, and the intelligence community. It ends dragnet surveillance and does so without diminishing in any way our ability to protect this country. I want to extend my sincere thanks to Chairman Goodlatte, to Mr. Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, and to Mr. Nadler of New York for working with me to bring a stronger version of the USA FREEDOM Act to the floor. I think we succeeded. I also want to thank Chairman Nunes and Ranking Member Schiff for helping us to reach this point. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 2048, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), to recognize his indefatigable work, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren), an effective member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

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

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 8 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), who is the distinguished ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I ask unanimous consent that he be permitted to manage that time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, I would like to simply ask my colleagues to reject an unlawful surveillance program, to restore limits to a range of surveillance authorities, to compel the government to act with some measure of transparency, and to end the practice of dragnet surveillance in the United States. In addition, I would like to thank the staff who have worked so hard on this bill: Caroline Lynch, Jason Herring, Bart Forsyth, Lara Flint, Chan Park, Matthew Owen, and Aaron Hiller. I close by thanking in advance my colleagues who, like many of us, are inclined to strongly support H.R. 2048. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor to recognize Ms. Jeralean Talley, a resident of Michigan's 13th District for a truly extraordinary distinction: Being named the world's oldest living person by the Gerontology Research Group, which keeps global longevity records. Ms. Talley was born in 1899 in Georgia and moved to Michigan in 1935, where she has resided ever since. An active member of her family and community, Ms. Talley bowled until she was 104 and mowed her own lawn until just a few years ago. According to the Gerontology Research Group, only one in 5 million people live to 110 years. Ms. Talley will turn 116 next month. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit an article from the Detroit Free Press from April 7, 2015 recognizing Ms. Talley for leading an extraordinarily full life and for achieving this unique distinction. [Detroit Free Press, April 7, 2015] Inkster's Jeralean Talley is oldest person, group says (By Bill Laitner) The front door flew open as a reporter approached a brick ranch house in Inkster and a voice called out, ``C'mon in-- I've got Time magazine on the phone.'' The speaker stood Thursday night over a placid figure dressed in a pale pink nightgown named Jeralean Talley, a bright-eyed elderly woman in spectacles who--despite her profound hearing loss--was fully aware, relatives said, that she'd just been declared by gerontology experts to be the oldest person in the world. ``It's truly incredible because Ms. Talley is very aware of what's going on. Her mental state is very sharp,'' said Michael Kinloch, 56, of Canton, a GM engineer and longtime family friend of Talley's through their church. ``It's unfortunate that other people passed away, but this has certainly elevated her. She's feeling no pain. She just can't get around like she used to,'' Kinloch said, who sat on a couch as he gestured to the walker that stood before Talley's easy chair. Talley, who will turn 116 on May 23, climbed to the top spot after Gertrude Weaver, the world's oldest person for just five days, died Monday in Arkansas. She was 116. Weaver, who was born July 4, 1898, to sharecroppers near the Texas border, was also the oldest American. She died at 10:12 a.m. at the Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation in Camden, a spokeswoman told KTHV-TV in Little Rock. She was crowned the oldest just Wednesday after the death of Misao Okawa in Japan. She was 117. At Talley's Inkster home Monday, a religious tapestry hung on the wall and around the room were others signs of her devotion to God. Asked for the key to her longevity, she gave the answer she has given before: ``It's coming from above. That's the best advice I can give you. It's not in my hands or your hands,'' she said, pointing vigorously skyward with both index fingers. Talley, born according to U.S. Census records in 1899 in Georgia, came to Michigan in 1935 and said, ``I've been here ever since then.'' Her advice to the world on the occasion of her having attained a new level of celebrity was a rephrasing of Christianity's Golden Rule: ``I ain't got nothing more but to treat the other fellow like you want to be treated. You don't tell a lie on me so I won't tell a lie on you.'' Talley is widely known among experts who chart those who monitor the members of a rare worldwide club--the one in 5 million humans to live at least 110 years. She bowled until she was 104 and still mowed her lawn until a few years ago, according to previous Free Press reports. Equally amazing, Talley lived alone until seven years ago, when she was joined in the small home under the flight path of Detroit Metro Airport jets by her daughter, Thelma Holloway, 77, and Holloway's daughter, 26, who has added an ever-smiling spark to the supra-centenarian's life--little Armmell, now 2 years old and a frequent visitor to his great-great grandmother's lap. On Thursday night, Armmell showed his elder his child- sized computer. ``He's fifth-generation,'' Thelma Holloway said, as the two bent over the toy together. Kinloch said he's looking forward to taking Talley, despite her advanced age, on their annual fishing trip. ``We go to a trout pond in Dexter. She really likes that,'' he said.