Conyers, John Jr. 1929–

views updated May 23 2018

John Conyers, Jr. 1929–

Legislator

Protected Workers and Consumers from injustice

Having served more than four decades as a U.S. congressman, John Conyers, Jr., has been nicknamed “government’s top cop” for his spirited crusades against administrative waste, bureaucratic red tape, and legislative practices that give criminals an ally in laws that belittle the rights of those who have been victimized. Conyers, the first black to serve on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, enjoys the reputation of a diehard defender of civil rights and a harsh critic of conservative administration policies that he believes favor those at the top of America’s socio-economic ladder, at the expense of those on the bottom rungs. Although a respected proponent of liberal Democratic ideology on most contemporary political issues, Conyers pulls no punches with the leadership of his party, claiming that Democrats, particularly in the 1980s, further disenfranchised the poor and minorities. In the new century, Conyers became the second-highest ranked member of the House and continued his work as a watchdog for discriminatory practices, throwing his congressional clout behind measures to end racial profiling, to continue affirmative action programs, and to make healthcare more equitable, among others.

Conyers’s political district covers Detroit, Michigan, where he was born on May 16, 1929, to John and Lucille Conyers. He received his BA and law degrees from that city’s Wayne State University and served his political apprenticeship as a legislative assistant to Michigan congressman John Dingell from 1959 through 1961.

Prior to his 1964 election to the House of Representatives, Conyers was a senior partner in the law firm Conyers, Bell & Townsend and also served as referee for the Michigan Workmen’s Compensation Department. Inspired by his father, a trade unionist, the young Conyers acted as general counsel for the Trade Union Leadership Council and was a member of the Committee on Political Education in Michigan’s fifteenth congressional district. In 1963 President John F. Kennedy appointed Conyers to the National Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an organization created to promote greater racial tolerance in the legal profession. He later served on the Committee to Assist Southern Lawyers and represented many clients who had been arrested in connection with irregularities in voter registration throughout the southern states.

Made Strides in Congress

Upon becoming a congressman, Conyers promptly began making a name for himself in Washington, D.C., as a flamboyant civil rights activist and unflinching liberal. President Lyndon Johnson’s revolutionary Medicare Program and a host of other groundbreaking pieces of legislation, including the 1965 Voting Rights Bill, were all cosponsored by Conyers. Throughout each of his terms, he has never wavered in his pressure for laws that promote equality in the United States.

During his tenure representing Michigan’s first con gressional district, Conyers has focused on issues of social justice, routinely trumpeting the issues of concern

At a Glance…

Born on May 16, 1929, in Detroit, Ml; son of John and Lucilie (maiden name, Simpson) Conyers; married Monica Ann Esters, 1990; children: John III. Education; Wayne State University, BA, 1957; Wayne State University, JD, 1958. Military service: U.S. Army, 1950-54.

Career: Michigan congressman John Dingell, legislative assistant, 1959-1961; Conyers, Bell & Townsend, senior partner, 1959-1961; Michigan Workmen’s Compensation Department, referee, 1961-1964; National Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 1963; Trade Union Leadership Council, general counsel; Committee to Assist Southern Lawyers, member; U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC, Democratic congressman from 1st Michigan district, 1965”. Government Operations Committee, chairman; House Judiciary Committee, member; Congressional Black Caucus, co-founder and senior member; National Board of Americans for Democratic Action, vice chairman; National Advisory Board of the American Civil Liberties Union, vice chairman; Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, trustee.

Memberships: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP; member of Detroit branch executive board); Kappa Alpha Psi.

Selected awards: Rosa Parks Award, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1967; honorary LL.D., Wilberforce University, 1969; NAACP, Detroit branch, Lifetime Achievement Award, 2000; National Black Caucus of State Legislators, Nation Builder Award, 2002.

Addresses: Office —2426 Rayburn House Bldg., Washington DC 20515-2201.

to those individuals who cannot afford the services of insider lobbyists and high-powered lawyers. As a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, as the ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, Conyers has achieved a commanding political forum, allowing him to articulate his liberal world view and help shape U.S. foreign and domestic policy. His influence is also felt by his service on the Subcommittee on the Constitution, the Subcommittee on Courts the Internet and Intellectual Property, and the Subcommittee on Immigration Border Security and Claims.

Conyers has played an integral part in Congress, writing such legislation as the Racial Justice Act, Department of Environmental Protection Act, Voter Registration Reform Act, the Martin Luther King Holiday Bill, and the Alcohol Warning Label Act, requiring that all alcoholic beverages have labels cautioning about the health effects of drinking during pregnancy, as well as the dangers of drinking and driving. The congressman also penned the Public Safety Officers Benefits Act that doubled benefits available to the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty, as well as legislation that would prevent utilities from shutting off household gas and electric service during the winter months when the occupant’s health may be threatened. Addressing one of his favorite political themes, accountability in government, Conyers sponsored the 1990 Chief Financial Officers Act, establishing the positions of financial overseers for the entire U.S. government and 23 federal agencies. This was done in order to help prevent the kind of mismanagement-and resulting scandal and financial drain-that has marked Savings and Loan institutions and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Fought Racism and Police Brutality

Serving on the Judiciary Committee, Conyers has held hearings on myriad pieces of legislation and has weighed in on some of the most contentious modern issues of social justice, including police brutality, racially motivated violence and the death penalty. Conyers’s was one of the strongest and clearest voices heard in the wake of the acquittal of several white California police officers in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King that took place in March of 1992. In a statement released after the verdict—a decision handed down by an all-white jury that touched off rioting in Los Angeles and in other American cities—Conyers echoed the feelings of many black and white leaders, stating that he was “outraged by the acquittals in the Rodney King verdict. This decision was a travesty of justice. What happened to Rodney King was a modern day lynching. If these police officers are innocent of police brutality, then no African American in this country is safe.” In 1999, Conyers and other members of the Judiciary Committee considered such bills as the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. He continued these practices into the new century, sponsoring bills such as the End of Racial Profiling Act of 2001 that was designed to stop policing efforts targeting people for solely racial reasons.

Decrying the absence of political leadership after the verdict, Conyers asserted in a television interview on Fox Morning News, “What we need is a federal presence talking about how we can move America out of officially sanctioned police violence. And the government is nowhere to be found.” In an effort to ensure a government presence in the future, the congressman proposed a law making the U.S. attorney general responsible for reviewing cases of brutality when a pattern of acquittals, cursory investigations, or lack of response to charges seems to have been established. The Justice Department would also be required to gather national statistics on police brutality.

In a move that supporters said reinforced the congressman’s image as a civil rights advocate, Conyers dealt a fatal blow to the Bush administration’s 1989 nomination of William Lucas to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights division. Although Conyers had originally endorsed the nominee, he withdrew his support after hearing Lucas, who is black, answer questions concerning several recent Supreme Court decisions that Conyers felt eroded extant civil rights laws. “We are in a crisis in the civil rights movement,” the New York Times quoted Conyers as telling the Senate Judiciary Committee. “If you can’t figure out that these cases are seriously undermining the progress we’ve made, then there’s no point in me waiting for you to become the assistant attorney general in the civil rights division.”

Protected Workers and Consumers from injustice

In targeting corporate and governmental fraud and abuse, Conyers has received accolades from consumer advocates and law enforcement activists by successfully blocking legislation that would have substantially weakened the federal anti-racketeering law (RICO) and reduced financial damages available to victims of institutional and economic crime. Conyers also moved to strengthen federal mail fraud laws that empower the federal Justice Department to vigorously pursue political corruption on the state and local levels. He has supported legislation requiring large U.S. corporations to issue advance warning before shutting down factories and to compensate displaced workers, permit employees to purchase closing factories, and allow the public to examine corporate employment, environmental, and safety records. Although these provisions have been criticized for undermining America’s free-market economy, Conyers has maintained that government intervention is necessary if the country is to boast a level playing field on which the individual worker and the community at large are not harmed in the name of corporate profit.

Conyers has also riled conservatives by investigating conflict of interest charges against the executive director of the Council on Competitiveness, a powerful, behind-the-scenes committee that reviews federal regulations affecting businesses. In a similar vein, responding to the findings of the U.S. Commission on Minority Business Development that the government had not significantly helped blacks to start and maintain their own businesses, the congressman accused the Small Business Administration (SBA) of not performing as expected. The agency “has no clear mission and a hostility toward fostering minority business development,” Conyers was quoted as saying in Jet. The commission suggested that the SBA work to reduce the amount of bureaucracy involved in its programs.

In his capacity as chairman of the Government Operations Committee, Conyers has shown his stripes as an unabashed critic of conservative policies and a vigilant watchdog of excessive government spending. His primary concern in this regard has been military outlays deemed essential for national security by former presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan. One such expenditure was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a space-based military system boosted by conservatives. Questioning the science and criticizing the expense, Conyers wrote in the Christian Science Monitor, “The administration has been remarkably successful in convincing Congress to give it billions for SDI. But the program has proved remarkably unsuccessful in producing much of anything. SDI has pulled a reverse Rumpelstiltskin—it has spun gold into straw.” On a more radical note, Conyers supported a bill that would allow citizens opposed to war to direct their tax dollars toward peaceful enterprises, including the retraining of military workers for civilian occupations.

With even greater emotion, Conyers lambasted the Bush administration for its refusal, in 1992, to grant political asylum to Haitians fleeing their country in the wake of a military coup that ousted their democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Conyers, who has chaired hearings on U.S.-Haitian policy, deemed it hypocritical not to accept refugees from a country whose military government the United States does not recognize. In response to the directive that the Coast Guard not pick up thousands of Haitians fleeing the island nation in ramshackle boats, the Washington Post quoted Conyers as saying, “The administration’s action is a policy of drowning. The sad fact is that Haitians are willing to risk their lives with the sharks of the sea rather than face the dictators of the military at home.”

Not one to be intimidated by the traditional constraints of partisan politics, Conyers has taken on the Democratic machine as well. In 1989 he waged an unsuccessful campaign to become mayor of Detroit. Running against entrenched Democrat and former political ally, 16-year mayor Coleman Young, Conyers attracted the support of those who believed the incumbent had not sufficiently addressed the city’s drug problems and crumbling economy and had grown out of touch with his constituents. Conyers was similarly criticized during the campaign for having done little for Detroit and its residents during his 25 years in Washington, a charge the congressman denied. In the end Young prevailed, due in large part to the fact that he is perceived as an indomitable political giant in Detroit.

Conyers has also attempted to refocus the Democratic Party on a national level, claiming that it has moved closer to the policies of the Republicans and in so doing has alienated its liberal supporters. Writing in support of the 1984 presidential candidacy of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Conyers opined in Progressive, “The Democratic party has become stale and lifeless. Its commitment to the arms race and to military muscleflexing in the four corners of the globe cannot be reconciled with our need to rescue a decaying economy. Its basic allegiance to a corporate order that owes little loyalty to national goals can only prolong the malaise. Incremental, patchwork adjustments to shaky policy cannot turn the nation around.” The party may have changed course with the election of Democratic candidate Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election, though Conyers maintained that the Democrats will reclaim the moral high ground, as well as seat more of its own in elected office, only if it actively fields minority candidates who can directly appeal to voters dispirited by the status quo and disconnected to a government dominated by white men.

Into the new century, Conyers remained in Congress, pushing his liberal agenda with his considerable political skill and seniority. Though the election of George W. Bush in 2000 and the ensuing war in Iraq shifted the nation’s focus to the right of that espoused by the Clinton administration, Conyers maintained his focuson racial and gender equality. As a way of protesting the war, Conyers and other members of Congress appeared at anti-war protests and proposed a reintroduction of the draft. Their proposal would not give exemptions for college studies and would include women. By raising fears that the children of those in power might be drafted to serve in the military, the congresspeople made their point. Although the proposal failed to gain acceptance, it succeeded in impressing upon those in power the importance of considering more peaceful solutions. Other of Conyers’s projects included managed healthcare reform, safety measures to protect Americans from toxic mold, as well as a proposal for the U.S. government to acknowledge and make reparations for the inhumanity of slavery between 1619 and 1865.

Sources

Periodicals

Black Enterprise, August 1980.

Christian Science Monitor, September 8, 1989; July 9, 1991.

Detroit News, May 20, 1992.

Ebony, December 1, 1989; August 1, 2000.

Economist, July 30, 1998.

Jet, August 17, 1992; October 30, 2000; August 20, 2001; March 3, 2003; September 8, 2003.

New York Times, December 27, 1987; November 2, 1988; July 21, 1989; August 13, 1989; May 5, 1990; July 9, 1990.

Progressive, October 1982; November 1983.

Time, September 28, 1998.

U.S. News and World Report, January 20, 2003.

Washington Post, May 23, 1992; January 19, 2003.

YSB, November 1991.

On-line

John Conyers, Jr., www.house.gov/conyers (June 3, 2004).

Other

Additional information for this profile was obtained from a congressional office biography; a press statement, April 30, 1992; and a Fox Morning News television interview transcript, April 30, 1992.

—Tom and Sara Pendergast

Contemporary Black Biography Tom, ; Pendergast, Sara

Conyers, John Jr. 1929–

views updated May 21 2018

John Conyers, Jr. 1929–

Politician

At a Glance…

Fought for Social Justice

Outspoken Critic of Conservative Policies

Challenged Democrats Locally and Nationally

Sources

Having served more than a dozen terms as a U.S. congressman, John Conyers, Jr., has been nicknamed “government’s top cop” for his spirited crusades against administrative waste, bureaucratic red tape, and legislative practices that give criminals an ally in laws that belittle the rights of those who have been victimized. Conyers, the first black to serve on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, enjoys the reputation of a diehard defender of civil rights and a harsh critic of conservative administration policies that he believes favor those at the top of America’s socio-economic ladder, at the expense of those on the bottom rungs. Although a respected proponent of liberal Democratic ideology on most contemporary political issues, Conyers pulls no punches with the leadership of his party, claiming that Democrats, particularly in the 1980s, further disenfranchised the poor and minorities.

Conyers’s political district covers Detroit, Michigan, where he was born May 16, 1929, to John and Lucille Conyers. He received his B.A. and law degrees from that city’s Wayne State University and served his political apprenticeship as a legislative assistant to Michigan congressman John Dingell from 1959 through 1961.

At a Glance…

Born May 16, 1929, in Detroit, Ml; son of John and Lucille (maiden name, Simpson) Conyers; married Monica Ann Esters, June 1990; children: John III. Education : Wayne State University, B.A., 1957, J.D., 1958.

Legislative assistant to Michigan congressman John Dingell, 1959-1961; senior partner, Conyers, Bell & Townsend, 1959-1961; referee, Michigan Workmen’s Compensation Department, 1961-1964; appointed to National Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 1963; general counsel, Trade Union Leadership Council; served on Committee to Assist Southern Lawyers; U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC, Democratic congressman from 1st Michigan district, 1965—. Also chairman, Government Operations Committee; member, House Judiciary Committee; co-founder and senior member, Congressional Black Caucus; vice chairman, National Board of Americans for Democratic Action; vice chairman, National Advisory Board of the American Civil Liberties Union.; trustee, Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Military service: U.S. Army, 1950-54.

Member: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP; member of Detroit branch executive board), Kappa Alpha Psi.

Awards: Rosa Parks Award, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1967; honorary LL.D., Wilberforce University, 1969.

Addresses: Office —2426 Rayburn House Bldg., Washington DC 20515-2201.

During his tenure representing Michigan’s first congressional district, Conyers has focused on issues of social justice, routinely trumpeting the issues of concern to those individuals who cannot afford the services of insider lobbyists and high-powered lawyers. As a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, chairman of the powerful Government Operations Committee, and the third-ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Conyers has achieved a commanding political forum, allowing him to articulate his liberal world view and help shape U.S. foreign and domestic policy.

Conyers has played an integral part in Congress, writing such legislation as the Racial Justice Act, Department of Environmental Protection Act, Voter Registration Reform Act, the Martin Luther King Holiday Bill, and the Alcohol Warning Label Act, requiring that all alcoholic beverages have labels cautioning about the health effects of drinking during pregnancy, as well as the dangers of drinking and driving. The congressman also penned the Public Safety Officers Benefits Act that doubled benefits available to the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty, as well as legislation that would prevent utilities from shutting off household gas and electric service during the winter months when the occupant’s health may be threatened. Addressing one of his favorite political themes, accountability in government, Conyers sponsored the 1990 Chief Financial Officers Act, establishing the positions of financial overseers for the entire U.S. government and 23 federal agencies. This was done in order to help prevent the kind of mismanagement—and resulting scandal and financial drain—that has marked Savings and Loan institutions and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Fought for Social Justice

Outspoken Critic of Conservative Policies

In his capacity as chairman of the Government Operations Committee, Conyers has shown his stripes as an unabashed critic of conservative policies and a vigilant watchdog of excessive government spending. His primary concern in this regard has been military outlays deemed essential for national security by former presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan. One such expenditure was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a space-based military system boosted by conservatives. Questioning the science and criticizing the expense, Conyers wrote in the Christian Science Monitor, “The administration has been remarkably successful in convincing Congress to give it billions for SDI. But the program has proved remarkably unsuccessful in producing much of anything. SDI has pulled a reverse Rumpelstiltskin—it has spun gold into straw.” On a more radical note, Conyers supported a bill that would allow citizens opposed to war to direct their tax dollars toward peaceful enterprises, including the retraining of military workers for civilian occupations.

Challenged Democrats Locally and Nationally

Not one to be intimidated by the traditional constraints of partisan politics, Conyers has taken on the Democratic machine as well, most recently in 1989 when he waged an unsuccessful campaign to become mayor of Detroit. Running against entrenched Democrat and former political ally, 16-year mayor Coleman Young, Conyers attracted the support of those who believed the incumbent had not sufficiently addressed the city’s drug problems and crumbling economy and had grown out of touch with his constituents. Conyers was similarly criticized during the campaign for having done little for Detroit and its residents during his 25 years in Washington, a charge the congressman denied. In the end Young prevailed, due in large part to the fact that he is perceived as an indomitable political giant in Detroit.

Conyers has also attempted to refocus the Democratic party on a national level, claiming that it has moved closer to the policies of the Republicans and in so doing has alienated its liberal supporters. Writing in support of the 1984 presidential candidacy of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Conyers opined in Progressive, “The Democratic party has become stale and lifeless. Its commitment to the arms race and to military muscle-flexing in the four corners of the globe cannot be reconciled with our need to rescue a decaying economy. Its basic allegiance to a corporate order that owes little loyalty to national goals can only prolong the malaise. Incremental, patchwork adjustments to shaky policy cannot turn the nation around.” The party may have changed course with the election of Democratic candidate Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election, though Conyers maintained that the Democrats will reclaim the moral high ground, as well as seat more of its own in elected office, only if it actively fields minority candidates who can directly appeal to voters dispirited by the status quo and disconnected to a government dominated by white men.