John Conyers

Without question, the Act has been an unqualified success, helping rid our Nation of legal barriers to voting discrimination.

The Voting Rights Act is the crown jewel of our Nation's civil rights laws.

And more chilling now than anything is the fact that they have got information through phone numbers, which can easily be attached to names, of everybody in the country for at least 6 years.

I think I am more concerned about the collection legality than I am about the uses to which it is put.

This has been a very important hearing, and I wanted to begin by asking Professor Martin about the decision by Justice Alito...

I maintain that the Fourth Amendment, to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, means that this metadata collected in such a super-aggregated fashion can amount to a Fourth Amendment violation before you do anything else.

This is unsustainable. It is outrageous and must be stopped immediately.

If only relevant conversations can be secured under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, then why on earth would we find now that we are collecting the names of everybody in the United States of America who made any calls for the last 6 years…

We never at any point during this debate have approved the type of unchecked sweeping surveillance of United States citizens employed by our Government in the name of fighting the war on terrorism.

Over the past decade, the Members of this Committee have vigorously debated the proper balance between our safety and our constitutional right to privacy.

The title of bill that is the subject of today's hearing, namely--the 'Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2013'--is unfortunately very misleading.

My greatest concern is that H.R. 2122 will have a pernicious effect on the public health, safety, and well-being of Americans.

H.R. 2122 will further tip the balance in favor of business interests by giving them multiple opportunities to intervene at various points in the rulemaking process.

By delaying the rulemaking process, we ultimately put American citizens at risk.

This means that agency officials will now be required to balance the costs of an air pollution standard with the costs of how many anticipated lives and illnesses that will result in the absence of such regulations.

The so-called 'Regulatory Accountability Act'--which effectively will prevent agencies from issuing regulations--is among the most seriously flawed bills we have considered to date.

The breadth and scope of these laws is astounding and definitely in need of repair.

Unfortunately, Congress has increasingly resorted to criminalizing actions as the solution to various problems over the past several decades.

There are now about 4,500 federal criminal laws. And, there are about 300,000 federal regulations that impose federal criminal penalties, many of which lack any mens rea requirement.

We gather today at a time when the Nation stands at a legal and political crossroad.

In the past week, many in the Administration have implied that because they have briefed the Congress and this Committee, that we are all complicit in the use of these surveillance tactics.

I agree with you. But if there were trials--and in one case, there may have been, and in another there wasn't--that's for the court to determine.

I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1123, the 'Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act,' because it would restore the ability of consumers to unlock their mobile phones so that they can readily switch from one wireless carrier to…

I cannot and will not speak to any funding or motivations behind the report, but what I do know is that there has been a really concerted ideological campaign.

Taking just the Clean Air Act as an example, Congress expected Americans to be safeguarded against hazardous air pollution.