Whereas John Conyers, Jr., was born in Highland Park, Michigan, on May 16, 1929, and grew up in the city of Detroit, Michigan; Whereas after his graduation from Northwestern High School, John Conyers, Jr., served in the Michigan National Guard from 1948 to 1950, the United States Army from 1950 to 1954, and the United States Army Reserves from 1954 to 1957; Whereas John Conyers, Jr., served for a year in Korea during the Korean War as an officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers and was awarded combat and merit citations; Whereas John Conyers, Jr., earned both his B.A. (1957) and LL.B. (1958) degrees from Wayne State University; Whereas John Conyers, Jr., was an active member of the Michigan Bar, co-founding the law firm Conyers, Bell & Townsend, working on the staff of Congressman John Dingell, serving as counsel to Detroit-area labor union locals, and serving as a referee for Michigan's workmen's compensation department from 1961–1963; Whereas John Conyers, Jr., was active in the Civil Rights Movement, traveling throughout the South, and was in Selma, Alabama, on October 7, 1963, for the voter registration drive known as Freedom Day; Whereas John Conyers, Jr., ran for an open seat in Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, following the landmark 1964 Baker v. Carr decision, and defeated his opponent with 84 percent of the vote; Whereas John Conyers, Jr., received the only known political endorsement of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks, known for her prominent role in the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, moved to Detroit and served on Conyers' staff between 1965 and 1988; Whereas John Conyers, Jr., served 26 terms, winning re-election 25 times, and is the third longest-serving member of the House in history, and the sixth longest-serving member of Congress in history; Whereas John Conyers, Jr., is one of the 13 members who founded the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969 and was considered the Dean of the Caucus during his tenure