Black History

::::::: CONGRESS :::::::


April, 2013

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the House: Hydropower & limiting NLRB   ~~~~~~~  the Senate: S.649,Safe Communities

The Senate stands in adjournment until 10:00am on Tuesday, April 9, 2013.

  • Following any Leader remarks, it is expected Senator Reid will renew the motion to proceed to Legislative Calendar #32, S.649, the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013 .  The time until 11:30am will be equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each with the Majority controlling the first 30 minutes and the Republicans controlling the second 30 minutes.
  • At 11:30am, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider Executive Calendar #14, the nomination of Patty Shwartz, of New Jersey, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit.  There will be up to 30 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Grassley or their designees.
  • Upon use or yielding back of time (at approximately 12:00pm), there will be a roll call vote on confirmation of the Shwartz nomination.
  • The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

This morning Senator Reid renewed the motion to proceed to S.649, Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013. The time until 11:30am is equally divided between the two Leaders or their designees. The Majority controls the first 30 minutes and the Republicans control the next 30 minutes.

At 11:30am, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider Executive Calendar #14, the nomination of Patty Shwartz, of New Jersey, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit.  There will be up to 30 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Grassley or their designees.

If all time is used at 12:00pm, the Senate will proceed to a roll call vote on confirmation of the Shwartz nomination.

As provided for under the previous order, the Senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15pm for the weekly caucus meetings. Following the recess, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act.

12:00pm The Senate began a roll call vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar #14, the nomination of Patty Shwartz, of New Jersey, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit;

Confirmed: 64-34

WRAP UP

ROLL CALL VOTE

1)      Confirmation of Executive Calendar #14, the nomination of Patty Shwartz, of New Jersey, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit; Confirmed: 64-34

LEGISLATIVE ITEMS

Discharged the Foreign Relations committee and adopted S.Res.77, expressing the sense of Congress relating to the commemoration of the 180th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Kingdom of Thailand.

Adopted S.Res.94, recognizing the 50th anniversary of the sinking of U.S.S. Thresher.

Began the Rule 14 process of S.691, a bill to regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices.

Began the Rule 14 process of S.680, a bill to rescind the amounts appropriated for FY2013 for the Department of Defense MEADS and for other purposes.

No EXECUTIVE ITEMS

Senator Reid filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the consideration of S.649, Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of
2013. The cloture vote on the motion to proceed will occur one hour after the
Senate convenes on Thursday, April 11.

 **************************************************************
The next meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on April 9, 2013.

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Ten Letters


Watch live at 5:45 p.m. ET: President Obama delivers remarks in Connecticut on common-sense measures to reduce gun violence. Watch on WhiteHouse.gov/Live.

Ten Letters

Every day, President Obama reads ten letters from Americans across the country. In this from-the-archives video, “Letters to the President,” we take you behind the scenes to see the process of how those ten letters make it to the President’s desk — from among the thousands of letters, faxes, and e-mails that get sent to the White House each day.

Watch “Letters to the President.”

Watch "Letters to the President"

In Case You Missed It

Here are some of the top stories from the White House blog:

Weekly Address: The President’s Plan to Create Jobs and Cut the Deficit
President Obama tells the American people about the budget he is sending to Congress, which makes the tough choices required to grow our economy and shrink our deficits.

Weekly Wrap Up: “We Have Not Forgotten”
Here’s what happened last week on WhiteHouse.gov.

President Obama Marks the End of Easter Season at Prayer Breakfast
Last week, the President and Vice President marked the end of the Easter season with a prayer breakfast at the White House.

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Building a Cleaner and More Secure Energy Future


President Obama delivers remarks on clean energy at the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., March 15, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

President Obama delivers remarks on clean energy at the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., March 15, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

On March 15, President Obama traveled to the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois to discuss the Energy Security Trust that he announced in the 2013 State of The Union Address. The Trust, which builds on a proposal supported by a broad bipartisan coalition including retired military leaders, would provide a reliable stream of funding for critical, breakthrough research focused on developing cost-effective transportation alternatives to get our cars and trucks off oil.

The President’s proposal sets aside $2 billion over 10 years and would support research into a wide range of cost-effective technologies – like advanced vehicles that run on electricity, homegrown biofuels, fuel cells, and domestically produced natural gas. Paired with other Administration policies, including our historic new fuel economy standards that are already saving families and businesses money at the pump, the Trust would help solidify America’s position as a world leader in advanced transportation technology.

This represents just a snapshot of the Administration’s Energy Security Trust proposal. For more information, read the White House blog on the Energy Security Trust. Also be sure to check out the President’s recent weekly address on this proposal.

News & Events

New EPA Report: Initial Data Shows Significant Gains in Fuel Economy for 2012
The EPA released its annual report that tracks the fuel economy of vehicles sold in the United States, underscoring the major increases made in the efficiency of the vehicles Americans drive, reducing oil consumption and cutting carbon emissions. According to the report, EPA estimates that between 2007 and 2012 fuel economy values increased by 16 percent while carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have decreased by 13 percent, and in 2012 alone the report indicates a significant one year increase of 1.4 miles per gallon (mpg) for cars and trucks. In addition, compared to five years ago, consumers have twice as many hybrid and diesel vehicle choices, a growing set of plug-in electric vehicle options, and a six-fold increase in the number of car models with combined city/highway fuel economy of 30 mpg or higher.

President Obama Nominates New Energy Department and EPA Heads
President Obama on March 4 nominated Ernest Moniz to replace Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy, and Gina McCarthy to take over U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) leadership from Lisa Jackson. Of his new Energy Secretary nominee, Obama said “Ernie knows that we can produce more energy and grow our economy while still taking care of our air, our water and our climate.” In announcing McCarthy’s nomination, President Obama called her a top environmental official in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where she helped design programs to expand energy efficiency and promote renewable energy. She previously served as the assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

Interior Department Approves Three Renewable Energy Projects in California and Nevada
As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand domestic energy production, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced on March 13 the approval of three major renewable energy projects that, when built, are expected to deliver 1,100 megawatts to the grid – enough to power more than 340,000 homes – and help support more than 1,000 jobs through construction and operations. Since 2009, Interior has approved 37 renewable energy projects, including 20 utility-scale solar facilities, 8 wind farms and 9 geothermal plants, with associated transmission corridors and infrastructure to connect to established power grids. When built, these projects will provide more than 11,500 megawatts of power, or enough electricity to power more than 3.8 million homes, and support an estimated 13,500 construction and operations jobs.

Obama Administration Holds 39-Million-Acre Oil and Gas Lease Sale in Central Gulf of Mexico
Taking the latest step in President Obama’s efforts to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Department of the Interior recently held a nearly 39 million-acre oil and gas lease sale for the Central Gulf of Mexico. As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, domestic oil and gas production has grown each year the President has been in office, with domestic oil production currently higher than any time in two decades and natural gas production at its highest level ever.

Energy Department Partnerships Speed Advanced Vehicle Technologies
As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to speeding the transition to more sustainable energy sources that will help drive economic growth, the Energy Department on March 5 announced 16 major U.S. employers and two stakeholder groups have joined the Workplace Charging Challenge to give more American workers access to new transportation options, while another three U.S. corporations have joined the National Clean Fleets Partnership. These steps support President Obama’s goal to drive new technology that offers more vehicle fueling options to American consumers, as highlighted in his State of the Union address. The Workplace Charging Challenge is a collaborative effort to increase the number of U.S. employers offering workplace charging by tenfold in the next five years. The National Clean Fleets Partnership aims to speed the deployment of clean, energy-efficient vehicles and the infrastructure to support their widespread use.

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Priorities


 

 
National Women's Law Center
 
 
BILLIONS of dollars.That’s what our country spends every single year on countless tax breaks for wealthy individuals and large corporations. And yet programs that are absolutely vital to women and their families are being cut. Our lawmakers need to get their priorities straight.Will you spread the word about these misplaced priorities by sharing this important image? It explains how ending just one tax break for corporations could go a long way in supporting vulnerable children and their families.

Infographic - Tax breaks for corporations that shift jobs & profits offshore cost more than all of these programs that serve low-income children and families.

The tax break highlighted here — known as “deferral” — allows corporations to delay paying taxes on offshore profits. This encourages multinational corporations to move jobs and profits offshore — and costs the U.S. $60.6 billion a year. That’s more than all these programs combined:

  • Head Start and Early Head Start, which help young low-income children develop and learn.
  • The Child Care and Development Fund, which helps low-income working families afford child care.
  • Child nutrition programs, which provide meals to school-age children and young children and adults in day care facilities.
  • Funding for Title I schools serving disadvantaged children, which helps improve educational opportunities.

U.S. lawmakers should get their priorities in order — instead of balancing the budget on the backs of women and families, they should ask wealthy individuals and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. For more information on fair budgets and taxes check out these videos we created in partnership with the National Priorities Project.

Thank you for all you do for women and families.

Sincerely,
 
Joan Entmacher   Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center 		 
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My 4yo daughter shakes when she sees police


 

Change.org
My 4-year-old daughter was traumatized when police simulated a hostage crisis in our housing complex without warning residents. Tell HUD to stop allowing military-style trainings in public housing.
Sign My Petition

On March 21, my four year old daughter and her babysitter were trapped in our apartment in Albany, New York in the middle of a police drill to simulate a hostage situation. She woke up to flash grenades, assault rifles and real tear gas being used in our home. The police threatened my neighbors with arrest if they tried to leave.

I don’t disagree with the police providing training to their officers, but nobody in the complex, not even the tenants’ association, was warned about this drill. People thought it was real.

Last week, the Albany police department apologized for holding the training so close to occupied residences. But my daughter still shakes with fear when she sees the police and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which actually allowed the police to conduct the training in our community, hasn’t said anything.

I started a petition calling on HUD to pass a national policy to prevent public housing communities from being used as military-style training grounds. Click here to sign my petition now.

The Albany police department says that they chose our neighborhood, which is lower-income and mostly African American, for their training because they wanted it to be “more realistic.” I don’t think this ever would have happened in one of Albany’s wealthier neighborhoods.

This isn’t the first time this has happened, either. Similar exercises have happened in public housing in Illinois, Connecticut, Kentucky and Pennsylvania in the past two years and have even included fake bombs and helicopters.

Public housing is meant to help hardworking people like me build better lives for ourselves and our families through safe and stable communities. Allowing our homes to be used for war games is completely counter to HUD’s mission. That’s why I’m confident that HUD will tell local housing authorities not to allow trainings like these on HUD property — if the department hears from you and many others.

Click here to sign my petition now, calling on HUD to prevent public housing from being used for police or military trainings ever again.

Thank you.

Lauren Manning

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