Articles & Op-Eds
We Must Finish the Anti-Poverty Work of LBJ
January 09, 2014Unemployment insurance, the minimum wage, and income inequality may be the issues of the day, but they have roots 50 years ago and before. These issues, of how we provide a safety net and create opportunity for the poor and working poor to achieve the American dream, were the framework that President Lyndon B. Johnson used when he declared an "unconditional War on Poverty" 50 years ago in his January 8, 1964 State of the Union address. I was thrilled to welcome Mrs. Lynda Johnson Robb, President… Continue Reading
Anniversary of War on Poverty Splits GOP, Democrats
January 09, 2014Democrats may have taken up income inequality as their election-year campaign platform, but Republicans appear determined to not let their counterparts own the subject. To the annoyance of some Democrats, six members of the conservative Republican Study Committee held a news conference Wednesday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the "war on poverty" and to call for a different tactic to address indigence in this nation - one that is leaner on direct aid and more robust in job creation. "W… Continue Reading
HAITI: FOUR YEARS AFTER EARTHQUAKE, HOUSING, SANITATION, HEALTH CARE ARE STILL PRESSING NEEDS
January 08, 2014Four years after an earthquake devastated Haiti and killed some 220,000 people and displaced 1.5 million, housing, sanitation and health care remain woefully inadequate, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Co-Director Mark Weisbrot said today. Weisbrot noted that while some 200,000 people are still stuck in internally displaced person (IDP) camps, and many others have been forcibly evicted onto the streets - and while under-funded sanitation and health care allow a cholera epidemic to… Continue Reading
We're Finally Getting A Little Closer to Repealing the Hyde Amendment
January 08, 2014As Congress heads back to work this week, anti-choice lawmakers are wasting no time putting abortion access back on the chopping block. This Thursday, House Republicans will hold a hearing on the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," or HR 7, a sweeping measure to broadly restrict insurance coverage for reproductive health care. An identical bill passed the House back in 2011, and it appears that lawmakers are ready to revive the push to enact barriers to affordable abortion access. The GOP-c… Continue Reading
Congressional Black Caucus Prepares 2014 Agenda
January 08, 2014Early in 2013, when Republicans on Capitol Hill expressed outrage over the lack of public access to the White House, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Marcia Fudge said she had more pressing matters on her agenda. "The millions who are the most vulnerable in the country are the ones taking a hit [because of government policies]," said Fudge (D-Ohio), who noted back in April that many Republicans were, "missing in action." While the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) continues to hammer out detail… Continue Reading
Report Card: How Far We've Come on the 50th Anniversary of the War on Poverty
January 08, 2014On this day 50 years ago, January 8th, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave his first State of the Union Address, in which the new president announced his ambitious "War on Poverty." Just seven weeks prior, the vice president found himself in the Oval Office following the assassination of the wildly popular John F. Kennedy. To a skeptical Congress, Johnson described the marginalized lives of Americans who "live on the outskirts of hope." "This administration today, he… Continue Reading
Rep Barbara Lee: GOP Using Most Vulnerable as Political Pawns in Debate Over Jobless Benefits
January 07, 2014A Democrat on the House Budget Committee said Wednesday that there is no reason for the proposed extension of unemployment benefits making its way through Congress to be offset with spending reductions elsewhere in the budget. Rep. Barbara Lee, California Democrat, said that it is "morally wrong and economically stupid" to cut benefits to help pay for anther extension of jobless benefits. "When has emergency unemployment compensation, first of all, been paid for?" Ms. Lee said on CSPAN's "Wash… Continue Reading
Farm Bill Nearing Home Stretch
January 07, 2014The long-delayed farm bill may finally be on a glide path to passage, after months of partisan wrangling raised doubts over whether such a day would ever come. House and Senate conferees are tentatively scheduled to meet Thursday to begin the final process of approving a bill that can be voted on by both chambers, senators and aides said. Leadership aides in both chambers indicated that the long-stalled legislation, which faltered in the House last session, could be sent to the president's desk… Continue Reading
50 Years Later, War on Poverty Has New Battle Lines
January 07, 2014Fifty years later, LBJ's audacious promise in his first State of the Union Address may be resounding again. On Jan. 8, 1964, just seven weeks after John F. Kennedy's assassination propelled him into the Oval Office, Lyndon B. Johnson described to a Joint Session of Congress the plight of Americans who "live on the outskirts of hope" because of poverty or race. "This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America," he declared in … Continue Reading
National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 a positive step towards HIV criminalization reform in US military
December 26, 2013On December 26, 2013 the President of the United States Barack Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 (NDAA). The Act contains important provisions for HIV criminalization reform advocates and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. Specifically, the Act contains language from an amendment co-sponsored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) - H.R. 1843, the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Action. According to a statement iss… Continue Reading
The 600 Doomed Defense Bills of 2013
December 26, 2013The U.S. gave an estimated $1.157 billion in foreign aid to Pakistan in fiscal 2013. That's a sliver of the federal budget-or even of just the defense budget-but any way you shave it, a billion dollars is not nothing. Then again, neither is the government's interest in keeping Pakistan stable. Along with being home to nearly 200 million people, the country is a key fulcrum in the U.S. global campaign against Al Qaida and other self-identified Muslim terrorist organizations. It wields tremendous… Continue Reading
The 'Sequester Pakistan' Act and Other 2013 Defense Bills
December 25, 2013The U.S. gave an estimated $1.157 billion in foreign aid to Pakistan in fiscal 2013. That's a sliver of the federal budget-or even of just the defense budget-but any way you shave it, a billion dollars is not nothing. Then again, neither is the government's interest in keeping Pakistan stable. Along with being home to nearly 200 million people, the country is a key fulcrum in the U.S. global campaign against Al Qaida and other self-identified Muslim terrorist organizations. It wields tr… Continue Reading
The Real War on Christmas: The War on the Poor
December 23, 2013The War on Christmas is our newest holiday staple. Among the stockings and sleigh bells, Fox News and the religious right alike trot out the War on Christmas every year. They rail against the loss of the "reason for the season" and bemoan the absence of the Christ in Christmas. Instead of enjoying this season of reflection and hope that crosses cultures and encircles the globe, many in the tea party stir up controversy and flood the holiday airwaves with resentment and fear. What thos… Continue Reading
CAPAC members fast in solidarity for immigration reform
December 20, 2013The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) on Friday announced that CAPAC Members are fasting in support of the Fast for Families campaign. Since November, faith, immigrant rights and labor leaders from across the nation started the Fast for Families campaign to urge Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Four advocates - Dae Joong Yoon, Eliseo Medina, Christian Avila, and Lisa Sharon Harper - fasted for 22 consecutive days, consuming nothing but water. They inspired ma… Continue Reading
California’s Crisis: Ending Child Poverty
December 19, 2013The recent Ending Child Poverty conference, co-convened by GRACE and The California Endowment in Los Angeles, brought elected officials, funders, and advocates together to focus on increasing economic stability for California's children and families through policy. Several voices from the First 5 movement reinforced the message that policy, collaboration, and a focus on early education are critical in order to lower the state's child poverty rate. Conway Collis, First 5 California Commissioner… Continue Reading
23,000 Local Residents Will Lose Unemployment Benefits, says Congresswoman Lee
December 19, 2013Congresswoman Barbara Lee visited Oakland's Private Industry Council's Career Center at 1212 Broadway in Oakland on Thursday morning to show her support to 23,000 local residents whose unemployment benefits not being extended.Congressional Republicans refused to back the extension, saying it would cost the country $26 billion over two years. Now more than 1.3 million Americans nationally will be without an income. "This is a shame and disgrace," said Lee, add that she is "beating the drum" to r… Continue Reading
Lee Introduces House Bill To End Federal Funding of Abstinence Education
December 18, 2013Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) has introduced a bill - Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2013 (HR 3774) - this week that would end federal funding of abstinence-only programs and support comprehensive sexuality education. "We need to get serious about educating our young people about sex," said Lee. "Abstinence-only programs fail to address the challenge of unplanned pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections among our youth, which have reached a… Continue Reading
House Bill Would End Federal Funding for Abstinence-Only Sex Education
December 17, 2013Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and eight other House Democrats have proposed legislation (HR 3774) that would eliminate federal grants for state-based, abstinence-only sex education programs, The Hill's "Floor Action" reports. Under Title V of the Social Security Act, the federal government can distribute grants to states for education and counseling programs that promote abstinence among groups of people who are likely to have children outside of marriage. According to Lee's of… Continue Reading
ActionAid USA Celebrates as the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act of 2013 Passes the US House of Representatives
December 16, 2013We applaud the leadership of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking member Eliot Engel, Chairman Ed Royce, Congresswomen Yvette Clark, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, for their bipartisan work to usher in this significant victory. Kysseline Chérestal, Senior Policy Analyst at ActionAid USA says: "This is a great victory as Haiti continues to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake. Now is not the time for the US to forget its promises and give in to Hai… Continue Reading
House Democrats Push To Defund Failed Abstinence-Only Education Programs
December 16, 2013A group of nine House Democrats have introduced a measure that would end federal funding to states that run abstinence-only education programs in public schools. The lawmakers say that this current approach to sex education has failed, and the government should better allocate its funds. "We need to get serious about educating our young people about sex. Abstinence-only programs fail to address the challenge of unplanned pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections among our youth, which hav… Continue Reading