June 8, 2005

Rep. John D. Conyers, Jr.

Congressman John Conyers, Jr., in his 41st year in Congress, has stepped up his efforts to fight the radical right wing agenda. After the 2000 election, he led efforts to uncover election irregularities throughout the country and introduced reforms to remedy those problems, which were watered-down in the Help America Vote Act.

He led the fight against the U.S.A. Patriot Act, and was the lawmaker responsible for inserting a sunset into the bill. He was also able to pass a provision requiring the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to look into abuses of civil rights and civil liberties. That new power has led to a series of reports by the I.G. exposing, among other things, the abuse of detainees. Conyers is currently investigating other abuses of the Patriot Act.

Following the suppression of minority votes and machine irregularities in the 2004 Ohio election, Conyers formed an ad hoc committee of lawmakers to investigate what happened in Ohio. This resulted in a 102-page report, issued by his staff, and Conyers leading the first challenge to a state’s slate of electors in over 100 years.

If Democrats retake the House of Representatives, Congressman Conyers will be the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and has promised that he will restore checks and balances to the federal government, and hold the Bush administration accountable for its wrongdoing.

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