John Conyers, Jr.

Congressman John Conyers, Jr. represented Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1965 to 2017 (89th-114th Congresses). Conyers served more than fifty years, becoming the longest-serving African American member of Congress. He was the dean of the House from 2015 to 2017, as he was the longest-serving member during that period. By the end of his last term, Conyers was the only remaining member of Congress who had served during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. Conyers served on the Small Business Committee and as chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform (101st-103rd Congresses) and the House Committee on the Judiciary (110th Congress). He was chair of the Judiciary Committee from 2007 to 2011. He is the only Judiciary Committee member to have participated in the Watergate impeachment scandal and the Clinton impeachment process. Conyers advocated for civil liberties, voting rights, affordable health care, and an end to violence against women. While in office, Conyers helped introduce home rule and congressional representation legislation for the District of Columbia and served as a principal sponsor of both the Voting Rights Act and the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act. One of his significant achievements was the passage of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Act of 1983 after 15 years of struggle to find support for the bill. Before entering Congress, Conyers served in the National Guard and the United States Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War. He earned both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree at Wayne State University.