This document is a summation – a one-stop shop – to let readers know who Congressman Hank Johnson is, what legislation he has proposed, influenced and passed, the work he has accomplished as Chairman of Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, on the Armed Services Committee, Transportation and Infastructure Committee and the federal funds he has brought back to the Fourth District.
Congressman Henry “Hank” Johnson Jr. represents Georgia's Fourth Congressional District, which includes portions of DeKalb, Rockdale, and Gwinnett counties.
As Regional Whip for Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama, Hank serves in the House Democratic leadership. He sits on the House Transportation and Infastructure, Armed Services and Judiciary committees and is chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy. He was elected to the historic 110th Congress and, in his first official act, helped install Nancy Pelosi as the first woman Speaker of the House.
Throughout his first term, Hank distinguished himself as a thoughtful legislator who advocates for the concerns of his constituents and citizens across the nation. He vocally opposed the Bush Administration's Wall Street bailout. He voted to raise the minimum wage. He fought for children’s health insurance, more Head Start funding, and to reform “No Child Left Behind.” He secured Federal funds for transportation, for medical facilities -- including Grady Hospital, and for public safety in the District.
He pushed for foreclosure relief and legislation to protect citizens from predatory lending. He voted for tax relief for working families and to punish gas gougers. Hank introduced ethics legislation and he supported stem cell research. With bipartisan support, Hank authored and passed a Resolution calling for an end to the 21-year conflict in Northern Uganda.
A strong voice against the war in Iraq and for the fair treatment of our troops, veterans, and military families, Hank fought for military pay raises, better benefits and quality medical care. Hank visited the troops in Iraq during a time of intense warfare and the first bill he introduced was to protect them. He vehemently opposed war profiteering and worked to close the loopholes manipulated by U.S. companies to avoid accountability while operating overseas.
Serving on the Judiciary Committee, Hank stood up for citizen’s rights. He introduced legislation suppressing mandatory arbitration agreements. He demanded fairness in the Jena 6, Genarlow Wilson, and detainee treatment cases. And he led some of the most engaging discussions in the hearings over dismissal of the U.S. Attorneys. When they refused to comply with Committee subpoenas, Congressman Johnson pushed for contempt citations for former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and he signed a Resolution urging the resignation of Attornery General Alberto Gonzales.
Committed to constituent services at home in his first year, Hank averaged one Town Hall meeting per month. He launched “Congress on Your Corner,” and participated in a host of community events to hear directly from constituents. His Health Care Town Hall in August 2009 was hailed as a modek for the nation. His two District offices have provided service for over 1,000 constituent cases ranging from passport issues to Social Security complaints and postal service challenges.
Prior to his election, Hank served as a DeKalb County Commissioner where he chaired the Budget Committee and a committee to coordinate planning with the Board of Education.
For nearly three decades, in partnership with his wife, he was a principal in Johnson & Johnson Law Group LLC, practicing law in Decatur where he focused on criminal and civil litigation. For 12 years he served as a Judge in the Magistrate Court of DeKalb County and by designation, he sat as a State Court Judge, presiding over civil and criminal jury trials. The Georgia Supreme Court appointed Hank to serve as a Special Master.
He earned his Juris Doctor at Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) where he later served as president of the Alumni Association, DeKalb Chapter. Hank is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
In his first run for Congress, Hank unseated a 12-year incumbent in a nationally watched primary runoff (59% to 41%). He won the General Election with 75% of the vote.
Hank is married to Mereda Davis Johnson, Esq. and has two children.
LEGISLATION
a) Two bills have become law (in bold and italic below)
b) One bill has been approved by the relevant subcommittee
c) One bill has been passed by the House and has been referred to the Senate
1) H.R.1020: Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009
a. Legislation would end predispute arbitration agreements in employment, consumer, or franchise disputes, or a dispute arising under any statute intended to protect civil rights.
b. Introduced 2/12/2009
c. Referred to Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
2) HR 1626: Statutory Time-Periods Technical Amendments Act of 2009
a. Amends federal bankruptcy, criminal, and civil law, as well as the Classified Information Procedures Act and the Controlled Substances Act, to extend from 5 to 7 days, and from 10 to 14 days, counting holidays and weekends, specified deadlines affecting court proceedings to harmonize them with recent amendments to the federal time-computation rules intended to provide predictability and uniformity to the current process of calculating court deadlines.
b. Introduced 3/19/2009
c. Became Public Law No: 111-16 on 5/7/2009
3) H.R.1888: TIRE Act of 2009
a. Creates a tax credit for vehicle fleet operators for the purchase of new or retread tires made from recycled rubber.
b. Introduced 4/2/2009
c. Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means
4) H.R. 2110: Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Fairness and Simplification Act
a. Limits state taxation of the wages of any employee who performs duties in more than one state to: (1) the state of the employee's residence; and (2) the state in which the employee is present and performing employment duties for more than 30 days.
b. Introduced 4/27/2009
c. Referred to the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
5) H.R. 2568: Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009
a. This bill would prevent small business contracts from being awarded to large businesses by modifying the definition of a small business to include the additional requirement that no publicly traded business, or subsidiary of, be qualified as a small business.
b. Introduced 5/21/2009
c. Referred to House Small Business; House Oversight and Government Reform
6) H.R. 2675: Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 Extension Act
a. Amends the Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 to extend through June 22, 2010, provisions of that Act limiting civil damages in antitrust enforcement actions.
b. Introduced on 6/3/2009
c. Became Public Law No: 111-30 on 6/19/2009
7) H.R.2822: Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act
a. Amends federal criminal code to: (1) establish a six-year limitation period for the prosecution of certain public corruption crimes; (2) expand the penalties for theft or bribery involving programs receiving federal funds; and other purposes
b. Introduced on 6/11/2009
c. Referred to House subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
8) H.R.3190: Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act of 2009
a. Declares that any agreement setting a price below which a product or service cannot be sold by a retailer, wholesaler, or distributor is an illegal restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
b. Introduced on 7/13/2009
c. Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee on the Judiciary by Voice Vote
9) H.R.3292: Judicial Survivors Protection Act of 2009
a. Authorizes a six-month open enrollment period starting 30 days after enactment of this Act for a federal judicial official to opt into the Judicial Survivors' Annuities System and begin contributing toward an annuity for his or her surviving spouse and dependent children.
b. Introduced on 7/22/2009
c. Referred to House subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy
10) H.R. 3382: HIRE Act of 2009
a. The bill (1) creates a tax deduction of up to $2,000 (for a couple filing jointly) and $1,000 in all other instances for purchasing qualified building products and home furnishings; (2) creates a tax credit equal to 20 percent of the qualified buildings products and home furnishings expenditures made by the taxpayer during the taxable year up to a maximum of $500 in the case of a joint return; (3) creates a tax credit for the purchase of building products and home furnishings for resale equal to 10 percent of the cost paid or incurred by the taxpayer up to a maximum of $10,000.
b. Introduced on 7/29/2009
c. Referred to House committee on Ways and Means
11) H.R.3632: Federal Judiciary Administrative Improvements Act of 2009
a. Makes technical changes to federal judicial law to remove the power of federal judges to appoint U.S. magistrate judges and for other purposes.
b. Introduced on 9/23/2009
c. Passed in House on 10/28/2009 under suspension and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
12) H.RES.782:
a. Demanding that the Government of Iran immediately disclose the existence of any additional nuclear-related facilities and provide unfettered access to its Qom enrichment facility.
b. Introduced on 9/29/2009
c. Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
13) H.R.3662: Federal Judgeship Act of 2009
a. Directs the President to appoint specified additional: (1) permanent circuit judges for the first, second, third, sixth, and ninth circuit courts of appeals, and temporary circuit judges for the third, eight, and ninth circuits; and (2) permanent district judges for various districts.
b. Introduced on 9/29/2009
c. Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
14) H.R. 3799: Affordable Access to Prescription Medications Act of 2009
a. Establishes a cap for prescription drug costs at $200 out-of-pocket cost per monthly prescription and a total monthly out-of-pocket cap of $500 for all insurance plans and amends the current Medicare Part D exemption process to authorize a beneficiary to request an exemption for specialty tier drugs.
b. Introduced on 10/13/09
c. Referred to House Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor Committees
15) H.R. 3986: Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act
a. The bill would empower federal courts to grant habeas corpus petitions for death row inmates who present newly discovered evidence that demonstrates probable innocence.
b. Introduced on 11/3/09
c. Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
INFLUENCING LEGISLATION
This section focuses on Congressman Johnson’s successful efforts to improve and leave his mark on important legislation moving through Congress.
Foreign Affairs
1) Introduced H. Res. 782, a bipartisan resolution regarding Iran’s nuclear program, with 54 cosponsors. Language from H.Res.782 was inserted into the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s “Iranian Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act,” or H.R.2194, legislation that would authorize the President to impose crippling sanctions on Iran’s energy sector should he see fit.
Health
2) H.R. 3962 - the Affordable Health Care for America Act –
a. Congressman Johnson worked to ensure that the recommendations of specialty medical associations, patient advocacy groups, and scientific societies are considered as part of the minimum benefit package by the Task Force for Clinical Preventive Services. Currently, when the task force has insufficient evidence to recommend a service, it provides an “I” or insufficient evidence grade. Many valuable preventive interventions do not yet have the evidence base needed to obtain a positive recommendation. Others can never be evaluated using the gold standard of a randomized clinical trial because a trial would be too expensive, recruiting participants is not feasible, or investigator interest or funding is lacking. Congressman Johnson worked to include report language in H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which clarifies that the benefits commission can look beyond Task Force recommendations to other sources of evidence and that the commission can consider the recommendations of specialty medical associations, patient advocacy groups, and scientific societies as part of the minimum benefits package.
b. Congressman Johnson worked with his colleague, Mr. Green of Texas, on sec. 2587 of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which requires a report to Congress on the current state of parasitic diseases that have been overlooked among the poorest Americans. A 2008 study identified high prevalence rates of parasitic infections in the poorest areas of the United States - potentially up to 100 million infections of Acariasis, Chagas Disease, Cysticercosis, Echinococcosis, Toxocariasis, Toxoplasmosis, Trichomoniasis, or Strongyloidiasis. These diseases disproportionately affect minority and impoverished populations, producing effects ranging from asymptomatic infection to asthma-like symptoms, seizures, and death. These diseases receive less financial support than they deserve with a mere $231,730 of research funding allocated by NIH since 1995. This discrepancy in funding is known as the “10/90 gap”; a mere 10% of global health research funding is directed towards diseases affecting 90% of the global population. For example, between 1995 and 2009, the National Institutes of Health funded a mere $231,730 of Toxocariasis research. The report required by this section would provide an up-to-date evaluation of the current dearth of knowledge regarding the epidemiology of these diseases and the socioeconomic, health and development impact they have on our society. The Secretary of Health and Human Services will report to Congress on this as well as the appropriate funding required to address neglected diseases of poverty, including neglected parasitic diseases.
Satellite Television
3) H.R. 3570 - Satellite Home Viewer Update and Reauthorization Act –
a. Congressman Johnson offered and passed an amendment to H.R. 3570 to fix the “phantom signal” problem so the American people will no longer be forced to pay for programming they have not received. Previously, due to flaws in existing law, broadcasters sometimes paid royalties to content producers even when programming was not actually delivered to subscribers. The geographical units to which programming is delivered are known as cable systems. Under Section 111 of the Copyright Act, royalties for the transmission of broadcast signals to cable systems were paid as if the entire cable system received the transmission, even if it was only received by some subscribers within the cable system. This has been known as the phantom signal problem. The cost of this flaw in the law was passed down to consumers, who paid for these royalties even though they did not necessarily receive programming.
Wall Street Reform
4) H.R. 4173 - Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act –
a. Congressman Johnson offered and passed an amendment to the financial services reform legislation which passed the House. Johnson's amendment would ensure than financial institutions do not abuse the judicial review provisions of the legislation.
COMMITTEE WORK
House Committee on the Judiciary
The Committee has jurisdiction over judiciary and judicial proceedings, bankruptcy, civil liberties, mutiny, espionage, counterfeiting, constitutional amendments, copyrights, and trademarks. Congressman Johnson is a member of the Constitution and the Commercial and Administrative Law subcommittees and Chair of the subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy.
• Oct 20, 2009: Joined Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott, Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, and Commercial/Administrative Law Subcommittee Chairman Steve Cohen as an original cosponsor of Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers’ “PATRIOT Act Amendments Act,” or H.R.3845. H.R. 3845 amends PATRIOT Act provisions to protect Americans’ civil liberties while equipping law enforcement with the tools they need to effectively carry out counterterrorism and counterintelligence.
• Nov 3, 2009: Introduced H.R.3986, the “Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act,” which would empower federal courts to grant habeas corpus petitions for death row inmates who present newly discovered evidence that demonstrates probable innocence. It has been endorsed by Amnesty International and the NAACP. It has received local, national, and international press attention.
Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy; Chairman
The subcommittee has jurisdiction over: antitrust law, monopolies, and restraints of trade, administration of U.S. courts, Federal Rules of Evidence, Civil and Appellate Procedure, judicial ethics, other appropriate matters as referred by the chairman, and relevant oversight.
Hearings:
• Hearing on: Competition in the Ticketing and Promotion Industry (2/26/09)
• Hearing on: ‘Too Big To Fail?’: The Role of Antitrust Law in Government-Funded Consolidation in the Banking Industry (3/17/09)
• Hearing on: "A New Age for Newspapers: Diversity of Voices, Competition and the Internet" (4/21/09)
• Hearing on: "Bye Bye Bargains? Retail Price Fixing, the Leegin Decision, and Its Impact on Consumer Prices" (4/28/09)
• Hearing on: H.R. 233, the "Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009" (5/19/09)
• Hearing on: to Delay: Are Patent Settlements That Delay Generic Drug Market Entry Anticompetitive? (6/3/09)
• Hearing on: H.R. 569, the "Equal Justice For Our Military Act of 2009" (6/11/09)
• Hearing on: Biologics and Biosimilars: Balancing Incentives for Innovation (7/14/09)
• Hearing on: the Expansion of Top Level Domains and its Effects on Competition (9/23/09)
• Hearing on: H.R. 3596, the "Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009" (10/8/09)
Markups
• H.R. 569, the "Equal Justice For Our Military Act of 2009" (7/30/09)
• H.R. 233, the "Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009" (7/30/09)
• H.R. 3190, the “Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act of 2009" (7/30/09)
House Armed Services Committee
This Committee is responsible for reviewing all aspects of policy affecting the active Armed Forces including military strategy, equipment, and personnel issues. Congressman Johnson sits on the Readiness and Military Personnel subcommittees. The Committee is responsible for the annual National Defense Authorization Act which authorizes military spending for the upcoming fiscal year.
National Defense Authorization Act FY2010 (H.R. 2647)
• Georgia Institute of Technology - Advanced Bio-engineering for Enhancement of Soldier - Survivability - $3,000
• Excellatron Solid State, LLC - Advanced Lithium Battery Scale-up and Manufacturing - $2,000
• Georgia Institute of Technology - Advanced SAM Hardware Simulator Development - $4,000
APPROPRIATIONS
Every year Congress must pass the 12 appropriations bills which fund the various arms of the federal government. Funding levels are based on authorization bills which have been signed into law and specific requests, earmarks, by Members of Congress. A list of the earmarks secured by Congressman Johnson, broken down by appropriations bill, is below. Congressman Johnson has worked hard to secure funding for a wide variety of projects in the 4th District and Georgia; from water efficiency to transportation and police officers. He has also worked hard to secure funding for national programs like Teach For America which have an impact across the country and the district.
Total Requested: $58,456,000
Total Approved: $3,046,000
Total Pending: $48,310,000
Public Law
Agriculture
1) Agricultural Research Service - Water Use Reduction, Dawson, GA - $1,200,000
2) National Institute of Food and Agriculture – Cotton Insect Management and Fiber Quality, GA - $346,000
Energy and Water – no projects
Homeland Security – no projects
Interior and Environment
1) Fish and Wildlife Service - Georgia Streambank Restoration - $500,000
2) Environmental Protection Agency – Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District for multiple water and wastewater system improvements - $500,000
3) Environmental Protection Agency – The City of Atlanta for sewer system infrastructure improvements - $500,000
Legislative Branch – no projects
Commerce, Justice, Science
1) Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office, Conyers, GA - Law Enforcement Mobile Data Network - $150,000
2) Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office, Rockdale County, GA – Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office—Gang Intervention - $250,000
Defense
1) Advanced Bio-Engineering for Enhancement of Soldier Survivability - $3,000,000
2) Advanced Lithium Battery Scale-up and Manufacturing - $2,000,000
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
1) I-85/Jimmy Carter Boulevard Bridge Replacement, Gwinnett County - $500,000
2) Commerce Crossing Bridge over I-20, Rockdale County - $500,000
3) Interstate 20-East Transit Corridor Alternatives/Environmental Analysis, Atlanta - $300,000
4) MARTA Clean Fuel Buses, GA - $300,000
Financial Services and General Government – no projects
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs – no projects
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies – no projects
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
1) Reading is Fundamental authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act - $24,803,000
2) Teach for America as authorized under the Higher Education Act - $15,000,000
3) Rockdale County Public Schools, Conyers, GA for its AVID/Advanced Placement program - $300,000
4) Rockdale County Public Schools, Conyers, GA to establish year-round Pre-K programs, which may include expenses for tuition, transportation, and meals - $400,000
5) Grady Health System, Atlanta, GA for facilities and equipment - $900,000
6) Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA for facilities and equipment - $100,000
7) Close Up Fellowships Program for activities authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act - $1,942,000
8) Reach Out and Read authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act - $4,965,000
