[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 386 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 386

Honoring retired Representative John Conyers, Jr., and extending to him 
the best wishes of the House of Representatives on the occasion of his 
                             90th birthday.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 16, 2019

Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself, Ms. Kaptur, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. 
  Clarke of New York, Ms. Haaland, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. 
 Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. 
  Johnson of Texas, Mr. Payne, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Thompson of 
 Mississippi, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Bishop of 
 Georgia, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Scott of Virginia, 
   Mr. Hastings, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Rush, Mr. 
 Grijalva, and Mr. Clay) submitted the following resolution; which was 
           referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Honoring retired Representative John Conyers, Jr., and extending to him 
the best wishes of the House of Representatives on the occasion of his 
                             90th birthday.

Whereas John Conyers, Jr., was born in Highland Park, Michigan, on May 16, 1929, 
        and grew up in the city of Detroit, Michigan;
Whereas after his graduation from Northwestern High School, John Conyers, Jr., 
        served in the Michigan National Guard from 1948 to 1950, the United 
        States Army from 1950 to 1954, and the United States Army Reserves from 
        1954 to 1957;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., served for a year in Korea during the Korean War as 
        an officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers and was awarded 
        combat and merit citations;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., earned both his B.A. (1957) and LL.B. (1958) degrees 
        from Wayne State University;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., was an active member of the Michigan Bar, co-founding 
        the law firm Conyers, Bell & Townsend, working on the staff of 
        Congressman John Dingell, serving as counsel to Detroit-area labor union 
        locals, and serving as a referee for Michigan's workmen's compensation 
        department from 1961-1963;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., was active in the Civil Rights Movement, traveling 
        throughout the South, and was in Selma, Alabama, on October 7, 1963, for 
        the voter registration drive known as Freedom Day;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., ran for an open seat in Michigan's 1st Congressional 
        District, following the landmark 1964 Baker v. Carr decision, and 
        defeated his opponent with 84 percent of the vote;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., received the only known political endorsement of the 
        Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks, known for her 
        prominent role in the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, moved to Detroit 
        and served on Conyers' staff between 1965 and 1988;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., served 26 terms, winning re-election 25 times, and is 
        the third longest-serving member of the House in history, and the sixth 
        longest-serving member of Congress in history;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., is one of the 13 members who founded the 
        Congressional Black Caucus in 1969 and was considered the Dean of the 
        Caucus during his tenure;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., won a seat as a freshman on the influential Committee 
        on the Judiciary and went on to serve as Chairman of that Committee from 
        2007 to 2011, along with serving as the ranking Democratic member on the 
        Committee from 1995 to 2007 and again from 2011 to 2017;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., during his tenure in Congress, vigorously and 
        successfully worked to oppose initiatives that violated constitutional 
        values and served as a beacon of hope to those facing poverty and 
        injustice, pursuing legislative causes and oversight on issues that 
        included police misconduct, access to affordable health care, LGBTQ 
        protections, violence against the Arab and Muslim-American communities, 
        AIDS in the African-American community, environmental racism, and 
        restorative justice;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., served as Vice President of the Detroit Chapter of 
        the National Lawyers Guild, Executive Board Member of the NAACP, and 
        Executive Board Member of the ACLU;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., over the course of his legislative career, was 
        responsible for more than 100 bills, amendments, and resolutions being 
        enacted, including 57 on which he was the overall lead sponsor, and an 
        additional 56 that he managed or was the lead Democratic sponsor;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., led many notable legislative efforts, including the 
        Martin Luther King Holiday Act, reauthorizations of the Voting Rights 
        Act, reauthorizations of the Violence Against Women Act, the Hate Crimes 
        Prevention Act, the Pattern and Practice Enforcement Act, the USA 
        Freedom Act, the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act, the Fair Sentencing 
        Act, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (commonly known as the 
        ``Motor Voter Act''), and the Innocence Protection Act;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., paid particular attention to advocating for the 
        Detroit area, cooperating with other Members to secure over $850 million 
        in grants and appropriation from 1993-2015, notably working to secure 
        Federal funds to prevent closure of the Detroit Medical Center and the 
        Detroit IRS office, along with successfully advocating for the opening 
        of a Detroit satellite location of the Patent and Trademark Office;
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., was found the most effective Democratic member of the 
        House of Representatives in a 2013 joint study by the University of 
        Virginia and Vanderbilt University; and
Whereas John Conyers, Jr., is recognized as a champion of civil rights and civil 
        liberties, receiving numerous honors, including the NAACP Spingarn Medal 
        and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Hubert H. 
        Humphrey Award: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) honors retired Representative John Conyers, Jr., on the 
        occasion of his 90th birthday; and
            (2) extends congratulations and best wishes from the House 
        of Representatives to Representative Conyers in celebration of 
        a distinguished legislative career.
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