Summary of Conyers Town Hall 12-15-06 - Democratic Underground

SharonRB

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Sat Dec-16-06 10:34 AM
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Summary of Conyers Town Hall 12-15-06

Edited on Sat Dec-16-06 10:50 AM by SharonRB

As promised, here is a summary of what John Conyers spoke about last night at the town hall I attended at the University of Detroit. This was an evening class that was opened up to the public, so there were a lot of students and a lot of constituents in his district, plus some out of his district (which I am). The room was filled beyond capacity, with many standing at the back.

Rep. Conyers opened with a bit of levity -- he asked those holding up impeachment signs to please put them down for now. He's fully aware of where impeachment begins. Please forgive the lack of detail on some of this. I took some notes, but most of this is just jotting down the basic points he talked about.

These town hall meetings are going to be held around the country. It sounded like he will be traveling all over to do these, and this was just the first. They're calling them "A New American Agenda," where they will be finding out from people across the country what they want from the new legislature. What a concept! Actually try to concentrate on those things the citizens want instead of their own personal agendas.

There are some immediate legislative issues they are going to deal with, as well as other long-range things, such as what do we want to become as a country.

One of the first and simplest things they want to do is get representation for the people of the District.

He then talked about a new book by Philip Sands that deals with international law issues and how our country does not follow may of them. He wants to work on these issues and bring the U.S. more in line with other countries on these issues -- the environment (Kyoto, I assume), the Geneva conventions and things like that.

He and Dennis Kucinich are going to reintroduce legislation to establish the Department of Peace. He admires Kucinich and called him to congratulate him on announcing his candidacy. He also met with Obama last week and thinks he's the first African American who actually has a chance to win should he decide to run.

We need to get out of Iraq as soon as possible, using diplomacy and in an intelligent manner. He does not agree with the Biden plan. He thinks we need a UN peacekeeping force in place.

We need to work on a single-payer, universal health care bill and reform the new bankruptcy law. They are getting calls from bankruptcy judges asking them to review the law -- it's not working.

We need to do something about Darfur.

We need to reform the criminal justice system. He specifically mentioned mandatory minimum sentences. There are too many people going to jail who should not be incarcerated.

We need to create a whole new paradigm -- we need to change what the U.S. means to the world.

Go back to the civil rights movement: jobs, justice, peace.

Corporations declaring bankruptcy should need to show their global assets, executive compensation, etc., not just U.S. assets. He and Evan Bayh will be introducing legislation.

On impeachment: It is not practical right now. It will never succeed, as they don't have the votes. They would just tie up the legislative process for 4-6 months if they got bogged down in impeachment and they wouldn't get anything done. Then, of course, people would say they didn't get anything done and throw them out.

On the other hand, they will be issuing subpoenas to get answers on things they haven't been able to get answers on before -- the DSM, etc. If, after investigations, they start getting bipartisan support for impeachment, then who knows. Maybe enough pressure could be exerted from both sides that we'd have another Nixon situation and Bush would step down. (He did not specifically say this, but this was the jist of it.)

They're going to challenge the Patriot Act, wireless wiretapping. They will rewrite laws, hold hearings and correct defects.

Other issues brought up from audience questions:
Voting reform
Negotiate with Syria and Iran
Must lead on global warming

This will be a PEOPLE'S AGENDA.

I know I rambled, but I hope this helps give you a sense of where he stands. He is not buckling!