Tag Archive: senate


Why School Lunch Reform Must Pass This Week

Filed Under: Health, New
Nov.30, 2010

Hot dogs and chicken patties and greasy pizza — oh my! Those are the entrees most kids currently get in their school cafeterias. If school lunch reform legislation doesn’t pass this week, those meals are unlikely to get any better in the future.

The Child Nutrition Act, legislation that would improve both the quality and accessibility of school lunches, has been kicking around in Congress for months on end. While the Senate passed its version of the school lunch reform bill — the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act — back in August, the House has yet to vote on the bill. That will change this Wednesday, December 1st, as representatives will finally weigh in on the legislation.

The House can do a number of things with the pending legislation. For one, it could neg the bill entirely, meaning kids wouldn’t see any increased funding for school lunches. The House could also delay the bill through a motion to commit, which would essentially kill the legislation for the rest of the year. With Republican lawmakers taking control of the House of Representatives this January, it’s unlikely that increased funding for school lunches will get enough support from Congress next year. Unless the House votes in favor of the Child Nutrition Act this week and sends it to President Obama’s desk for approval, this may be the last chance in the foreseeable future for federal school lunch reform.

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Demand Action to Help Gulf Wildlife

Filed Under: New
Nov.10, 2010

The BP oil disaster has affected every Gulf state — and beyond. Fisheries have been devastated, tourism to the area has plummeted, wildlife refuges and marshes have been fouled with oil, toxic tar has washed onto beaches, and thousands of dolphins, sea turtles, herons, pelicans, and countless other wildlife were coated in oil, facing slow and agonizing deaths.

The Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Accountability Act (S. 3663) would address much-needed drilling reforms, including improving offshore drilling management and crisis response. The House of Representatives has already passed this important bill, and now it’s time for the Senate to do the same.

We’ve seen the devastation an offshore oil spill can cause for wildlife, fisheries and coastal economies. Urge your Senators to support the Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Accountability Act.
Demand Action to Help Gulf Wildlife

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Tell the Senate to Confirm Federal Court Nominee Goodwin Liu

Filed Under: New
Sep.23, 2010

With a name like Goodwin, how can Liu lose?

Unfortunately, Republicans aren’t charmed by a winning name any more than they are by strong qualifications. So Prof. Goodwin Liu, President Barack Obama’s nominee to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has been blocked for months from being confirmed for an office he is eminently qualified for. After Congress decided to go on vacation without reaching a decision on Liu, Obama had to renominate the good professor to be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee yet again and then face the full Senate. This time, let’s get it done, shall we?

Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, points out that the Berkeley law professor has been unanimously deemed “well-qualified” by the American Bar Association. There’s no reason why Liu shouldn’t be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow and then go on to win full Senate confirmation. Yet the dude couldn’t even get a floor vote scheduled last go-round without Republicans breaking out the delaying tactics (although he’s won a few of them over and thus enjoys bipartisan support). What gives?

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Court Overturns "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" — But We Still Need to Act

Filed Under: New
Sep.10, 2010

Has a federal judge struck the final blow against the military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian servicemembers, or will an appeal and an opposed Senate mean it will linger, perhaps for years?

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled Thursday that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy is unconstitutional, violating the First and Fifth Amendments (freedom of speech and due process). In her 85-page opinion (found here), she wrote, “the effect of [DADT] has been, not to advance the Government’s interests of military readiness and unit cohesion, much less to do so significantly, but to harm that interest.” She will issue a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the policy.

The case was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), who advocate within the GOP for gay and lesbian rights. A repeal of DADT, they say on their Web site, helps further the core Republican principle of a strong national defense.

Now, LCR must submit language for the injunction by September 16. The U.S. Department of Justice, which opposed LCR in the case, then has seven days to submit objections.

Will there be an appeal? I’d bet on it. That’s why we cannot be complacent in attacking the policy on a legislative front as well. Aubrey Sarvis, Army veteran and executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), said of the ruling, ”We’re pleased by the judge’s decision, but this decision is likely to be appealed and will linger for years.  Congress made the DADT law 17 years ago and Congress should repeal it. The Senate will have the opportunity to do just that this month and most Americans think the Senate should seize it.”

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Repower America

Filed Under: New
Aug.05, 2010

The Senate has decided that we won’t get a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill before the August recess — which most observers interpret as a death-knell for the legislation this year.

This failure would be hard to understand at any time, to say the least. But coming as it does in the middle of a record-hot summer and a series of environmental disasters, Washington’s abandonment of this effort is all the more confounding and frustrating.

However, this setback only makes our work more necessary. As long as we care about our country, our planet, and the future we’re leaving for our children and grandchildren, we must continue to fight.

Remember: The climate crisis isn’t going away. And neither can we. It is getting worse, so we have to redouble our efforts.

We’re already planning the next phase of our work, and I’m counting on your continued involvement. I’d like to invite you to join me next Tuesday, August 10, for a conversation to discuss how we should move forward from here. I’ll be answering some questions from Repower America members like you — so please submit a question for discussion.

“Next Steps for the Climate Movement”
Virtual Town Hall
Tuesday, August 10 at 8:30 p.m. EDT
RSVP to join and submit your question

The Senate’s decision is a major disappointment for the climate movement, but there is a silver lining. In the last year, supporters like you have organized on an unprecedented scale. And we’ve built overwhelming popular support for action on comprehensive climate and clean energy solutions.

But by using the right-wing media echo chamber, record campaign contributions and an army of well-paid lobbyists, the oil and coal industries have stopped at nothing to protect the status quo and their profits. They want to keep using the atmosphere as an open sewer for the dumping of their greenhouse gas pollution.

The Senate’s inaction reflects that reality. We have always known that solving the climate crisis is a generational challenge — and the urgency of the climate crisis demands that despite these substantial obstacles, we must fight for every inch of progress. The science has never been more clear and the evidence is mounting day by day.

For those of us who understand the stakes, it’s a moral obligation.

And so we must fight even harder. Together, we must continue to beat back repeated assaults on the authority in the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon pollution. We must continue to pressure our elected leaders — local, state and national — to stand with the American people instead of the fossil fuel industry. We must each take individual action to transition to clean energy in our daily lives. And we must win the ongoing battle of science against spin.

We can and must continue the fight. Please join me on Tuesday, August 10 at 8:30 p.m. EDT to discuss our next steps.

http://acp.repoweramerica.org/jointhecall

Thanks for all you do — we’re all in this together.

Al Gore
Repower America

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Hold the Food Industry Accountable – Make Our Food Safe

Filed Under: New
Jul.07, 2010

Every day, more than 200,000 Americans get sick from the food they eat: cookie dough, spinach, peppers… your plate could be next.

While a bill to make our food system safer passed the House a year ago, it has stalled in the Senate. It has bipartisan support — but we need the Senate to act now.

Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and co-producer of Food Inc., has joined forces with Consumers Union in the fight to bring this bill to a vote

“We’ve seen what happens when we let Wall Street regulate itself. When we let the oil industry regulate itself. It makes absolutely no sense to let the food industry continue to regulate itself.”

If you agree with Schlosser, sign the petition urging your Senators to help bring the food safety bill S.510 to a vote. Let’s make our food system better and safer today!
Hold the Food Industry Accountable – Make Our Food Safe

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Time to Break through the Politics and Act on Climate

Filed Under: New, Tech
Jun.22, 2010

The recent oil spill in the gulf coast could easily become the nation’s worst environmental catastrophe in history, affecting wildlife, land, and fishing industries across the gulf and even up the eastern seaboard. On top of that, the tragic loss of life at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia was the country’s worst mine disaster in four decades.

It’s time for America to choose cleaner energy—we must move away from outdated, dirty energy sources to smarter choices. New clean energy and energy efficiency technologies will create safe, green jobs, provide power without contaminating our land, water, and air, and will help curb global warming pollution.

Unfortunately, the Senate has yet to overcome the political impasse that is delaying action on this critical issue.

Please tell President Obama and Carol Browner, Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Policy, that we need their leadership to break this impasse and ensure that Congress passes comprehensive climate and energy legislation this year.
Time to Break through the Politics and Act on Climate

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Pass a Strong Food Safety Bill

Filed Under: New
Jun.19, 2010

We all want greater assurance about the safety of our food, especially now that so much of it comes from other countries with lax safety laws. We already know how vulnerable we are – we shouldn’t have to wait for a national disaster to get the problem fixed! Yet a food safety bill that would help prevent deadly food outbreaks before they start is stalled in the Senate!

Everyone who supplies our neighborhood grocery stores — whether from the Asian highlands or the Mississippi bottomlands — should be subjected to reasonable standards, including regular inspections and testing for contamination. Right now, that’s not happening.

If you think it is time Washington passes common-sense rules to prevent deadly food outbreaks — rather than spend taxpayer dollars trying to track them down after the fact — tell your Senators to vote YES for S. 510 with no loopholes.

Pass a Strong Food Safety Bill

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