[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 13, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E70]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          REPORT ON THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE W. BUSH

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 13, 2009

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, today I have received a report prepared 
by the majority staff of the House Judiciary Committee, Committee, 
detailing numerous abuses by the Bush administration over the past 8 
years, and recommending a number of steps to restore an appropriate 
Constitutional balance of power between the executive and legislative 
branches.
  The report, based largely on oversight activities of the Judiciary 
Committee, and other committees, over the course of the 110th Congress, 
is titled ``Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and 
Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush.''
  Issues examined include: The politicization of the Department of 
Justice; assaults on individual liberty, including extreme 
interrogation, extraordinary rendition, and warrantless wiretapping of 
U.S. citizens; the misuse of executive branch regulatory authority and 
Presidential signing statements; misleading manipulation of pre-Iraq 
War intelligence; improper retaliation against Administration critics; 
and excessive secrecy, including non-compliance with congressional 
oversight.
  The report examines how the Bush Administration's legal approach to 
presidential power has eroded the Constitutional system of checks and 
balances designed by the Framers to preserve our liberty. It also 
recommends specific steps that this Congress and the incoming Obama 
administration should take to restore those checks and balances.
  I am having the report posted to the Judiciary Committee Web site, in 
order to make it available to other members of the committee, to the 
full House, and to the American public.
  I believe this report will be of tremendous benefit helping inform 
the changes we must make going forward--to repair the damage to our 
democracy, and to prevent similar abuses from occurring in the future.

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