{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/conyers-johnson-hr-5063-will-undermine-agency-ability-hold-wrong-doers", "Conyers & Johnson: H.R. 5063 will undermine agency ability to hold wrong doers accountable", "2016-09-08", "2016", "2016-09", "Democrat", "House", "GA", "Hank Johnson", "J000288", "hankjohnson.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC \u2013 House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Ranking Member Henry C. \u201cHank\u201d Johnson, Jr. (D-GA) today released the following statements after H.R. 5063, the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016 passed the U.S. House of Representatives.\nVideo:\u00a0Rep. Johnson on the House floor: \"We're too busy passing bills that help Wall Street -- that's not what the American people want.\"\u00a0\n\u201cH.R. 5063 is a deeply flawed bill that imposes an abysmal solution to a non-existent problem,\u201d said Congressman Conyers. \u201cMany settlement agreements like those under attack by this legislation have facilitated effective responses to harms caused by reckless corporate actors. The majority\u2019s accusations against the Justice Department\u2019s use of settlement funds have been proven to be completely false. It is my hope that my colleagues in the Senate reject this legislation, should it come to the floor for a vote.\u201d\n\u201cThis so-called \u201cStop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016\u201d is a deeply flawed proposal that would establish sweeping changes to the enforcement of the law by civil enforcement agencies,\u201d said\u00a0Congressman Johnson. \u201cThis misguided bill lets Wall Street off the hook at the expense of homeowners who were misled and severely harmed by the depraved misconduct that gave rise to the mortgage crisis.\u201d\nH.R. 5063, the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016, would prohibit settlement agreements that authorize payments to parties not \u201cdirectly and proximately\u201d harmed by the unlawful conduct of the settling defendant. This undermines the ability of agencies to adequately address unlawful conduct, provide complete restitution for violations of the law, and tailor remedies to address systemic or diffuse harms to unidentifiable victims, the public health, or the environment. By forcing agencies into needless litigation, the bill would waste agency time and resources as well as taxpayer dollars and delay the timely enforcement of the law and the provision of full relief for victims.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/conyers-johnson-hr-5063-will-undermine-agency-ability-hold-wrong-doers"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3663750141859055, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}