President Obama delivers a statement from the Rose Garden about the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya. September 12, 2012.More
Tag Archives: Congress
a message from Alan Grayson … for Congress
 Just Chillin’. |
I’d like to tell you how I met Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ).
There is a gorgeous hall in the Cannon House Office Building. It has high ceilings, beautiful chandeliers, enormous windows, etc. After the 2008 election, the House Democratic Caucus invited new members, returning members and retiring members to that hall, to choose our caucus and committee leaders.
There were dividers set across the middle of the hall. In the front were the dais, the lectern, the chairs and the speeches, delivered by all the candidates for leadership positions.
In the back was the food.
In the front, you had to listen. In the back, you could have a conversation. You could do business. You could make a deal.
Being a newbie, I was very interested to see who was in front, and who was in back. I went to the back of the hall – not because I was hungry, but because I wanted to see what was up back there.
In the back of the back of the hall, I saw a man with a bushy Van Dyke beard, leaning up against the wall. He was wearing blue jeans, a denim shirt, and a shoestring tie with a silver ornament. He had his beverage of choice in hand.
He was just chillin’.
I walked up to him and introduced myself, rather woodenly: “Hi, I’m Alan Grayson, the Congressman from Orlando.”
He looked at me, smiled warmly, and said simply: “I’m Raul.”
That was my first experience with the preternatural calm, poise, modesty and dignity of Rep. Raul Grijalva.
There are certain thoughts that come to mind for Members of Congress over and over again. One of them goes like this: “If only your voters could see for themselves what kind of person you are, then you would get 99.9% of the vote.”
That’s what other Members of Congress think about Raul Grijalva. The phrase “nice guy” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Because of the extraordinary respect that other Members of Congress have for him, Raul was elected Chairman of the Progressive Caucus at the end of only his fourth term in office. As the Chairman of the Progressive Caucus, Raul is our spokesman on reducing unemployment, universal healthcare, cutting military expenditures, campaign finance reform, progressive taxation, improving education, and peace.
Right now, a conservative Democrat is challenging Raul Grijalva in his primary next Tuesday. She was appointed to her current position by crackpot Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who is famous for sticking her finger in the face of the President of the United States and shouting at him.
Raul’s opponent says that the reason why she wants to go to Washington is that “she is frustrated with Washington.” Personally, I’m frustrated with traffic jams, but that doesn’t make me want to be in one. I think that you need a better reason than that to be elected to Congress.
Raul’s opponent, a rich businesswoman, is running crass attack ads on TV against him. She’s up on the air, and he’s not. Raul needs to fight back; we need to help. Please contribute to Raul Grijalva’s campaign. We can’t afford to lose him.
Courage,
Alan Grayson
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Women and their RIGHTS to birth-control coverage
I know you care about stopping attacks on women’s birth control, so I wanted to make sure you heard about this.
There is a new bill in Congress that would let any boss – even the owner of a fast-food restaurant – block his employees from getting insurance coverage for birth control. It’s ridiculous!
The lawmaker behind the bill is a big supporter of the recent “Fortnight for Freedom.” This was a series of nationwide events organized by the anti-choice United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
I hope you take a moment to tell your representative that this bill cannot stand. It’s wrong to stop women from getting birth-control coverage.
Thanks for getting involved!
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Support Alan Grayson for Congress
The Most Anti-Christian Sign in History?
Dear carmen:
Republican Todd Long’s disgraceful bigoted attack against Alan Grayson as “The most anti-Christian Congressman that we’ve ever had in our history” continues to reverberate around the Web. Here are some more comments that have been posted online:
“I live and vote in Alan’s district. He is just the person to stand up to those Congressmen who would destroy America just to benefit the special interests who donate unlimited sums of campaign cash to Republicans. He is well-educated, has a background in the law, and willing to stand up for the average taxpayer! Last election, he was targeted by the special interest groups eager to silence him, and replaced by a puppet who marched to the Tea Party drum.” – Jim51fla
“Grayson is more a follower of Jesus Christ than any one of his critics on the right. During Grayson’s speech at the Florida Democratic Party, Alan Grayson . . . told the biblical story of Cain, who killed his brother with the jawbone of a donkey (which probably meant he wanted to blame it on the Democrats). [Alan] quoted: ‘And then when God said, “Where’s your brother?” Cain said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” As if he had no idea. And that, [Alan said,] is actually the fundamental question that separates us from them, right? Am I my brother’s keeper? Our answer is, “Yes, we are.” We are.'” – janmb
“I love Alan Grayson. He’s observant, intelligent, outspoken, has great values and a keen moral sense, and to top it all off, he has a sense of humor. No Christian to whom Christianity is related to a code of ethics, [or related] to empathy for his or her fellow human being, to whom being a Christian is an injunction to err on the side of kindness, need ever fear Alan Grayson.” – Godipo
“Love Alan Grayson. Love his assurance, enthusiasm, courage. I seem to remember an old saying about knowing the quality of a man by the depravity of his enemies. That makes Mr Grayson the greatest man in the nation! Go Grayson! Landslide these clowns!” – hitnmyths
Widely respected blogger Howie Klein had this to say:
“The part of Long’s bizarre anti-Semitic diatribe that fascinated me was his assertion that Grayson “doesn’t believe in any of the biblical values, doesn’t believe in treating people well, doesn’t believe in uniting the country, doesn’t believe in solving problems.” I honestly cannot name another Congressman who was more in synch with Jesus’ most essential teachings than Alan Grayson. I mean, what did the Prince of Peace say about wars? Was anyone in Congress more devoted to peace than Grayson? What did Jesus say about healing the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the impoverished? Basically, Grayson did little else but work on these very issues! Unless Long is talking about some bizarre religious rites, like snake handling or whatever his crazy supporters are into, anyone examining Alan Grayson’s record would come up with the opposite conclusion– he’s the most Christian– or Judeo-Christian (or just plain ethical) Member of Congress in recent memory.”
And then there was this telephone message:
“I just spoke to Jesus on the phone and he told me that Grayson will be going back to Congress this election, and that Todd Long is going to hell.” – ProudElitist
How can we possibly let some hateful crackpot like Todd Long defeat us? How can we give someone like that any measure of control over our lives? If you haven’t done it already, it’s time to step up, be counted, and show your support at our “Beat the Bigot” contribution page. And do it now.
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Stand Up for Women in D.C. and Everywhere!
| Stand Up for Women in D.C. and Everywhere! | |
| Tell Your Representative to Stop the D.C. 20-Week Abortion Ban | |
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And you thought the War on Women couldn’t get any worse. At a time when lawmakers are slashing funds for family planning services, blocking pay equity legislation, and targeting other programs that serve women and girls, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) has set his sights on women who have no voting rights in Congress and can’t fight back: residents of the District of Columbia. Franks is pushing H.R. 3803, which would ban abortions only in D.C. after 20 weeks without any exceptions for rape, incest, or the mother’s health. The bill, which is modeled after a similar ban in Nebraska and several other states, passed the House Judiciary Committee on July 18. Tell your representative to stop this heinous bill in its tracks and oppose a full floor vote. Franks’ bullying tactics are an act of radical cowardice. Instead of proposing this extreme legislation for the entire country, which undoubtedly would mobilize women to contact their elected officials to vote against it, Congress is imposing its will on a group of residents who lack the voting representation to fight back. In fact, Franks refused to allow Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), the duly elected, non-voting representative of the District of Columbia, to testify at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on H.R. 3803! But don’t be fooled! This legislation is a direct challenge to the constitutional protections for all women. This extreme and continued assault on women’s reproductive health will stop at nothing with the ultimate goal of turning back the clock on our constitutional rights. The War on Women, including women in our nation’s capital, needs to end now. Take Action! Urge your representative to stop H.R. 3803 from coming to a floor vote. To send a message, simply click on the “Take Action” link in the upper right corner. Then follow the instructions to compose and send your message. Follow AAUW on Twitter, and read our award-winning AAUW Dialog Blog for discussion, information, and advocacy for women and girls! Are you an AAUW member? Subscribe to Washington Update, a members-only weekly e-mail bulletin with an insider’s view on public policy and politics news, resources for advocates and programming ideas! Subscribe today! Take the next step to break through barriers for women and girls: Become part of the AAUW national community! Join or donate today! Have general questions about AAUW? Please contact connect@aauw.org or call 800/326-2289 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday. |
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Be a Seed for Change 
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