John Conyers: “I take this time to honor and commemorate the life and the accomplishments of our former colleague Congressman Peter…”

“I take this time to honor and commemorate the life and the accomplishments of our former colleague Congressman Peter Rodino, elected to the House of Representatives in 1949, who served his district in New Jersey for 40 years with great integrity, humility, fairness, dignity and honor. Originally known for making Columbus Day a national holiday, Chairman Peter Rodino spent his whole life fighting for people's rights, and I recall personally his strong commitment to human rights, his unwavering support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Voting Rights Extension Act of 1982. He introduced many of these bills and shepherded them through Congress as chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. He was also responsible for the enaction of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act which reviewed determinations of mergers of huge corporations in America, and he was instrumental in reforming immigration laws in both the Simpson-Rodino legislation and the Kennedy-Rodino legislation, both of which improved mechanisms for people in the country illegally to legalize their immigration status. In 1973, Mr. Rodino replaced the legendary Emanuel Celler as the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. I was then a member of the committee, and he impressed all of us with his determination to do the right thing and his considerate treatment of all committee members.…”