[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 85 (Thursday, May 16, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E509-E510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF JOHN J. CONYERS, JR. BY COMMENDING HIS 
                   ACHIEVEMENTS ON HIS 95TH BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 16, 2024

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life and 
achievements of John James Conyers Jr., my friend, civil rights 
advocate, esteemed representative from Detroit, Michigan, and former 
Chair of the House Judiciary Committee.
  Today, May 16, 2024, marks his 95th Birthday.
  Congressman Conyers served 52 years as a U.S. Representative from 
three different districts in Detroit, Michigan from 1965 to 2017.
  He was one of the longest serving members of the United States 
Congress and the longest serving African-American Member of Congress.
  Mr. Conyers won his first election to Congress with 108 votes more 
than his opponent.
  Following that election, he won reelections with 80 percent of the 
vote for the rest of the time he served as an elected member of the 
U.S. House of Representatives.
  During his earlier years, education was the road to success.
  After graduating from Northwestern High School, Mr. Conyers served in 
the Michigan

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National Guard from 1948 to 1950; the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1954; and 
the U.S. Army Reserves from 1954 to 1957.
  He served during the Korean War as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers and was awarded combat and merit citations.
  After discharge from the military, he earned both his B.A (1957) and 
Law Degree (1958) from Wayne State University.
  Once admitted to the bar, he was an aide to Congressman John Dingell.
  He also served as counsel to several Detroit-area labor union locals, 
and was a referee for Michigan's workmen's compensation department 
(1961-1963);
  John Conyers was one of 13 U.S. Representatives who cofounded the 
Congressional Black Caucus in 1969 and helped create the CBC 
Foundation.
  During his time in the House of Representatives he sat on the House 
Committee on the Judiciary where he rose in seniority to become the 
Ranking Democratic member from 1995 to 2007 and again from 2011 to 
2017.
  Mr. Conyers became Chairman of the Judiciary Committee from 2007 to 
2011; and served as chairman of the House Oversight Committee from 1989 
to 1995.
  He was the longest-serving member of Congress, and in that capacity, 
he was the Dean of the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017.
  His longstanding credentials were sharpened by his work to establish 
equity and fairness for all.
  In March 2016, Mr. Conyers and Representative Hank Johnson introduced 
legislation to protect consumers' access to civil courts entitled the 
``Restoring Statutory Rights Acts''.
  Mr. Conyers was a sponsor of the United States National Health Care 
Act (Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act), a bill he 
reintroduced each session until his retirement from the House.
  Another prominent bill Mr. Conyers sponsored was the ``Commission to 
Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act'' in January 1989.
  He also re-introduced this bill each congressional term in which he 
served.
  H.R. 40 calls for establishing a commission to research the history 
of slavery in the United States and its effects on current society with 
recommended ways to remedy this injustice. Since 1997, the bill has 
been designated ``H.R. 40''.
  Upon leaving the House, he passed the responsibility for H.R. 40 to 
me.
  I introduced H.R. 40 in the 117th and each Congress thereafter.
  My bill does four things: It acknowledges the fundamental injustice 
and inhumanity of slavery; It establishes a commission to study 
slavery, its subsequent racial and economic discrimination against 
freed slaves; It studies the impact of those forces on today's living 
African Americans; and the commission would then make recommendations 
to Congress on appropriate remedies to redress the harm inflicted on 
living African Americans.''
  John Conyers as a former ``Dean' of the Congressional Black Caucus, 
also joined the American Sikh Congressional Caucus; Congressional 
Progressive Caucus; United States Congressional International 
Conservation Caucus; Out of Afghanistan Caucus (Co-chair); 
Congressional Full Employment Caucus; Congressional Arts Caucus; 
Afterschool Caucuses; and the Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus.
  John Conyers was a dedicated public servant who worked for the good 
of his constituents and the Nation.
  I offer thanks to him and his family for the legacy he has left for 
those who continue to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

                          ____________________