DETROIT WASHINGTON BLVD. RENAMED AFTER HON. JOHN CONYERS TO HONOR 40 YEARS
OF SERVICE
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – Detroit Entertainment Commission’s chairperson Attorney
Gregory J. Reed and the Detroit Legacy Committee, consisting of Hon. JoAnn
Watson, Hon. Alberta Tinsley-Talabi, Charles H. Brown, Esq., Donald Davis,
Angela Austin, Karen Lloyd and Sherry Washington, met at a conference to
discuss and draft a proposal for renaming Washington Blvd., a major significant
street in Detroit history, after Congressman John Conyers in honor of his
service to the community, the state of Michigan and the United States
Congress.
On April 28, 2009, the Detroit Legacy Committee’s proposal drafted by Gregory
J. Reed and introduced to the Detroit City Council by Hon. Pro-Tem JoAnn Watson
was unanimously passed by the Detroit City Council. A major street
dedication and installation date will be set in 2009 to commemorate the street
sign installation on John Conyers’ 80th birthday on May 16, 2009.
Washington Blvd. is a major landmark street that starts at the Detroit River in
front of Cobo Hall Conference/Exhibition Center and it runs past John Conyers’
office at the Carl Levin Detroit Federal Bldg. up to Grand Circus Park. The
committee deemed the proposal was appropriate based on Conyers’ contributions
and selfless years of services in Michigan and the United States
Congress. Washington Blvd. is adjacent to Congressman Conyers’ Detroit
office where he has been serving for more than 40 years and is block from the
new Rosa Parks' transit.
Having entered the House of Representatives in 1964, Mr. Conyers is the second
most senior member in the House of Representatives. After serving as Chairman
of the House Committee on Government Operations (now renamed Government Reform)
from 1989 until 1994, Congressman Conyers was elected by his congressional
colleagues to lead, as Chairman, the pivotal House Committee on the Judiciary.
In addition to its oversight of the Department of Justice (including the FBI)
and the Federal Courts, the Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over
copyright, civil rights, consumer protection, and constitutional issues.
Congressman Conyers was also a member
of the Judiciary Committee in its 1974 hearings on the Watergate impeachment
scandal and played a prominent role in the recent impeachment process, giving
him the distinction as the only Judiciary Committee Member to have served on
both panels.
Congressman Conyers is also one of the 13 founding members of the
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and is considered the
Dean of that group. Formed in 1969, the CBC was founded to strengthen
African-American law makers' ability to address the legislative concerns of
Black and minority citizens.
In Mr. Conyers' 40 plus years in Congress, some of his major accomplishments
include: the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the Motor Voter Bill of 1993,
the Martin Luther King Holiday Act of 1983, the Alcohol Warning Label Act of
1988, and the Jazz Preservation Act of 1987. He was also the driving
force behind the Help America Vote Act of 2002.