John Conyers

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. I thank my colleague the floor manager and my friends on the other side. I am privileged now to recognize the gentleman from Texas, who came to me with this idea, Mr. Al Green, and I will yield him 3\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to call upon the Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Honorable Joe Baca of California, and I yield him 2 minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 826) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the hanging of nooses is a horrible act when used for the purpose of intimidation and which under certain circumstances can be a criminal act that should be thoroughly investigated by Federal law enforcement authorities and that any criminal violations should be vigorously prosecuted.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker and members of the committee, I am pleased to join my colleagues in support of House Resolution 826, a resolution condemning the hanging of nooses for the purpose of intimidation, violence, and other criminal purposes. Unfortunately, consideration of this resolution comes at a critical time for our Nation. Many of us had thought the hanging of a noose, a symbol of racial violence, hate, and intimidation down through history was a practice relegated to our past. Since September, however, there have been reports of approximately 50 noose-hanging incidents across this country. It's no coincidence that these disturbing incidents follow in the shadow of the Jena Six case, which documents continuing racial inequity in our Nation even into this century. As we all know, a hanging noose symbolizes lynching, one of the most shameful, terror-ridden, racial crimes in our history and which, sadly, can be traced back to the very founding time of the United States. First used to punish African slaves as early as the 17th century, the practice of lynching was commonplace until, I'm sorry to report, as late as 1968. Between 1882 and 1962, nearly 5,000 people, most of them African Americans, were lynched in our country. There appears to be a resurgence in the hanging of nooses for intimidation or other racist purposes. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for example, has filed more than 30 lawsuits for hanging nooses in the workplace since the year 2001. The commission observed ``a disturbing national trend of increased racial harassment cases involving hangman's nooses in the workplace.'' In October, a noose was found hanging, of all places, in the Nassau County New York police headquarters locker room. Last month, hanging ropes were found in the United States Coast Guard Academy in the bag of an African American cadet and in the office of a diversity trainer. Noose incidents are also occurring with disturbing frequency in schools throughout our country. At Louisiana's Jena High School, nooses were hung from a tree that white students had regarded as their exclusive domain for socializing after African Americans sat under the tree. This sparked similar incidents in schools across our Nation. In New York City, an African American professor at Columbia University found a noose hanging on her office door. In North Carolina, four nooses were found hanging at various locations at High Point Andrews High School. Universities in Maryland, Delaware and Indiana have reported noose incidents in recent months. In my own State of Michigan, nooses were hung on the Central Michigan University campus weeks after anti-Muslim pamphlets had been distributed. As this resolution calls upon Federal authorities to investigate noose incidents, I am heartened to note the Justice Department's efforts to address this problem. At an oversight hearing on the Jena 6 incident held earlier by the Judiciary Committee, the Department stated it viewed such noose hangings as possible violations of Federal civil rights law. I commend my colleague from the State of Texas, our new Member, Al Green, who for his leadership on this issue should be really commended as an important contribution that he has made. And I would like to acknowledge the Judiciary Committee's members on both sides of the aisle who helped advance this resolution with their active support. The Committee on the Constitution chairman, Jerrold Nadler; the Crime Committee chairman, Bobby Scott; also our stellar members from North Carolina, Mel Watt; and from Texas, Sheila Jackson-Lee; from California, Maxine Waters; Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin; Georgia, Hank Johnson; Tennessee, Steve Cohen; Wisconsin, James Sensenbrenner; and Texas, Louie Gohmert. These and many others have been very helpful in laying the groundwork for us to come together to hearten not just the people in this country but our law enforcement agencies, particularly the Department of Justice, in trying to reduce and indeed eliminate this unfortunate system of hate that is spreading, unfortunately, in our country. I think we can head it off, and I hope with the passage of House Resolution 826 that will be, in fact, accomplished. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Could I ask my colleague, the floor manager (Mr. Forbes), I would like to ask unanimous consent for 5 minutes more on each side if that would be agreeable with the gentleman.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask that we have 5 additional minutes added to each side.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to call my dear friend and newest member to the Congressional Black Caucus, Laura Richardson, to speak, and I recognize her for 2\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to recognize the former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, and we would grant him 2 minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to recognize the gentleman from Tennessee, a distinguished member of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Steve Cohen, 2 minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to recognize the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. William Jefferson, who has worked very hard on matters of racial justice across his career in the Congress, and I yield him 2 minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise my colleague, the floor manager, that I have only one final speaker. We will be concluded. So if you would like to yield back, we would finish up.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia, and I yield finally to the Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio, a distinguished lawyer, prosecutor, judge, and now a chairman in the House of Representatives, to close for us.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, according to the United States Fire Administration, arson is the leading cause of fire in the United States and annually results in over 2,000 injuries, more than 400 deaths, and $1.5 billion in property damage. Even more problematic is the fact that arson is one of the most difficult crimes to prosecute. Only 16 percent of intentionally set fires result in arrests, and only 2 percent result in conviction. Although arson causes significant losses in lives and property each year, there is no national registry requiring convicted arsonists to notify law enforcement of their residence, place of employment, or other information that would aid law enforcement in identifying offenders with a demonstrated disposition for committing arson offenses, and that's precisely what H.R. 1759 does. We respond to several aspects of the serious concerns presented by arson. To aid law enforcement in identifying criminal activity related to arson, we established the National Arson Registry, a comprehensive nationwide network of registry databases developed by the Attorney General that tracks convicted arsonists. The bill also requires jurisdictions to create arson registries and mandates that convicted arsonists register in each jurisdiction in which he or she resides, is an employee, or is a student at an educational institution. And finally, the bill requires the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to coordinate the various databases through the National Arson Registry and make the information available to law enforcement agencies. Armed with this information, law enforcement authorities will be able to solve many more arson crimes than they are able to now. Knowing that they're registered with and known to local authorities may deter convicted arsonists from committing new arson. This bill rightly enjoys broad bipartisan support. I commend my colleagues in the Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith and the floor manager of the bill, and urge that we support legislation whose time has come. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize a distinguished member of the Judiciary Committee from California, Mr. Adam Schiff, and would grant him as much time as he may consume.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure now to yield such time as he may consume to the chairman of the Crime Committee on the Judiciary, my good friend Bobby Scott.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I would close by holding out my hand of cooperation to my chairman of the Crime Subcommittee because I know he has been working carefully with the leaders of this bill and we have accepted some of his recommendations, and it will be my pleasure to make sure that we consider the points that he has made here this afternoon. So with that I am very pleased to urge the support of this measure that's before us. I think it is important and timely and will be very constructive. 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. 888) to amend section 1091 of title 18, United States Code, to allow the prosecution of genocide in appropriate circumstances.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. 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.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker and members of the committee, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948. It was in response to Nazi Germany's policy of systematic murder. The Convention, to which the United States is a signatory, established genocide as an international crime which signatory nations undertake to prevent and punish. It's the duty that we address in the Genocide Accountability Act before us at this moment. We must remember that genocide affects all humanity, not just the direct victims, and not just the perpetrators, but all those who stand by and by their inaction allow those horrible acts to take place. These are the lessons of the Holocaust, of Cambodia, of Bosnia and, more recently, of Rwanda. In Rwanda, we shrugged our shoulders and waited until 800,000 people were killed before we were willing to call that atrocity by its rightful name, genocide. Sadly, even after Rwanda, the world has mostly stood by while yet another genocide has unfolded before our eyes. The genocide in Darfur has thus far claimed 200,000 lives, and maybe going up to as many as 400,000 lives. Two and a half million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict in Darfur. Both President Bush and Congress have correctly described the situation in Darfur as genocide. As history repeats itself in Darfur, it seems that we have to learn to say the right things about these atrocities, but too often we cannot seem to muster the consensus and strength of will in the United States and the international community to make our deeds match our words. Along with an increased United Nations peacekeeping force, and a long- term political agreement among its many factions, we need to explore every avenue available to stop this massacre from continuing and prevent similar ones in the future. The Genocide Accountability Act is an effort to ensure that our United States laws provide adequate authority to prosecute acts of genocide. We should not have a situation where perpetrators of genocide are allowed to enter the United States and use this country as a safe haven from prosecution. What an untenable thought. But under current law, genocide is only a crime if it's committed within the United States or by a United States national outside of the United States. In contrast, the laws of torture, material support for terrorism, terrorism financing, hostage taking, and many other Federal crimes allow for extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes committed outside the United States by non-United States nationals. So there's a gap in the law. This has led to real-life consequences. I understand that the Justice Department has identified individuals who have participated in the Rwandan and the Bosnian genocides and who have entered the United States under false pretenses. Under current law, these individuals can be deported but they can't be arrested or prosecuted for committing genocide. And so we bring to you on the floor today a measure to allow us to do more than send them off to another country, not knowing whether they will ever be prosecuted. This measure will allow us to bring them to justice. Amending our laws to allow for vigorous prosecution of genocide is a first, a small, but very, very important step toward ending the impunity under which those who commit genocide currently operate. I am so proud of my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee who have worked with us on this: Lamar Smith; the floor manager for the Republicans, Mr. Forbes; and many others. We must remember that it cannot be the last step, this measure. If we are going to fulfill our role as the beacon in the world for basic human rights and freedom from persecution, we must continue to develop the humble legislative beginning that we have begun today. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure now to yield 4 minutes to the ranking member of the Committee on Judiciary on the Democratic side, Mr. Howard Berman.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the Crime Subcommittee has played an enormously important role in the measure before us, and I am pleased to recognize Chairman Bobby Scott for 3 minutes.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to recognize a distinguished member of Judiciary, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, for such time as he may consume.

Mr. CONYERS. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Speaker. I want to close by observing that the Judiciary Committee has handled four measures on the floor this afternoon, and I have enjoyed the full, unstinting cooperation of the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Forbes). I want to thank him very much for it. And I appreciate the kinds of issues that we have handled here on this day in the House of Representatives. They are issues of local and global import that I think reflect in a very complimentary sense upon the things that can be accomplished in the Congress when we put our best efforts and bring our most cooperative spirits to the table. And so I thank all of the speakers on both sides of the aisle.

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