House Dems Heading To Alabama To Shed Light On Immigration Law

By Andrea Salazar

House Democrats will be visiting Alabama Nov. 21 to bring attention to the effects the state’s immigration law has had on the Latino community.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a stark opponent of the Alabama law, considered the strictest immigration law in the country, is leading the effort. Acknowledging that he does not expect any immigration measure to make it to the House or Senate floors before the next election, the congressman said the Alabama visit is to raise awareness.

“The more light you shed on the abusive anti-immigrant law of Alabama, the more likelihood there is that you’re going to defeat it,” Gutierrez said at a news conference Thursday. “We’re going there to say that we came to listen and in listening also to ask you what it is you would like us to do as we return to the Congress of the United States.”

HB56, the Alabama immigration law, requires schools to find out students’ immigration status and calls on police to check a person’s status during stops or arrests if there’s “reasonable suspicion” that the person is in the country unlawfully.

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) is welcoming her colleagues to Alabama and calling on her state to play the role it did during the civil rights movement.

“So many of the injustices that this nation has faced have been addressed on the ground in Alabama, and once again I believe that we in Alabama will lead the way with making sure we get a federal immigration policy and not a piecemeal state by state effort,” Sewell said.

Gutierrez emphasized that all visiting representatives would be spending their own money to pay for the trip. To that effect, Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-Texas) said they were making the trip because immigration is an issue that affects everyone.

“If the law does not protect you today, it will not protect me tomorrow,” Gonzalez said. “We all have an interest in this.”

Pointing out that the author of the Arizona immigration law, Russell Pearce, was recalled in a special election this past month, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), warned politicians to take immigration seriously.

“That recall better be a harbinger for a lot of politicians that it’s time you took this issue of immigration in a serious way,” Grijalva said. “Look at comprehensive reform in a federal level and quit using people in their communities - Alabama, Arizona and others - as a whipping boy for a political advantage.”

Reps. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), Al Green (D-Texas), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) and Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) will join Gutierrez, Grijalva, Gonzalez and Sewell in Alabama on Monday where they will hold a field hearing and attend the launch of a campaign to repeal the Arizona immigration law.

Van Hollen: No Major Legislation During 'Lame-Duck' Session

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the third-ranking Democrat in the House, told reporters today that he does not anticipate the House voting on anything big during the brief session of Congress following this November’s elections.

“It’s very clear that there’s not gonna be major legislation during that period,” he said, citing Republican “scare-tactics” as the source of such speculation.

Nonetheless, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), has filed a resolution, to be considered this coming Tuesday - the same day the House will vote on a bill to send emergency aid to states - that would prohibit Congress from voting during the two-month session.

Price defended his resolution on the floor of the House last week.

“Americans are sick and tired of their elected leaders making backroom deals to ram through unpopular, 2000-page bills that no one has read,” he said. “They are sick of out-of-touch politicians, and they are tired of being ignored.”

Van Hollen, however, rebuked Price’s notion, saying the decision by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to call the House back into session was motivated by the need to preserve jobs.

“We’re coming back because it makes no sense from a jobs perspective and…from the prospective of our children’s education to have an insufficient number of teachers in the classroom,” he said.

Democrats Eye New Oil Legislation Before August Recess

By Alexa Gitler-Talk Radio News Service

Before Congress leaves for its annual August recess, Democrats are eager to pass a series of measures in both the House and the Senate that would set new minimum safety standards for wells and require offshore drilling rigs to be built in the United States.

The House is set to debate and vote on a 238-page drilling package on Friday. The legislation, which attempts to stitch together several drilling bills advanced by committees in recent weeks, includes a bipartisan measure  that would set minimum standards for the design of wells, cement barriers at the sites and blowout preventers that are designed as a last defense against uncontrolled surges of oil and natural gas. The second measure, a 16-page bill, is aimed at allowing whistleblowers in the industry to voice their opinions without fear of retribution.

The package, which will be amended this week, would also bar companies with bad safety records from drilling on federal land.

House Democrats Introduce “Equal Employment For All” Legislation

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

House Democrats on Tuesday introduced H.R. 3149, otherwise known as the “Equal Employment For All Act,” which aims to reduce the burden of unemployment on individuals with poor credit scores.

The bill would prohibit employers from using credit reports to guide hiring decisions and from asking applicants to voluntarily provide this information.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who wrote the legislation, said that 43% of employers use credit checks during the hiring process.

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), a co-sponsor of the bill, called such credit checks “unnecessary barriers to employment.” Rep. Cohen cited a study by the American Psychological Society, and said that unless the job “involves significant financial responsibility,” these credit reports have “no relevance to a person’s qualifications or ability to do jobs.”

Some employers would be exempt from the legislation, including financial institutions and some governmental agencies.

The congressmen argued that bad credit reports often result from factors that cannot be controlled by the individuals in question, including medical issues and job loss during troubled economic times. Rep. Cohen cited studies emphasizing that racial minorities often have worse credit report ratings than whites. “We shouldn’t allow for credit reports that don’t help employers, but only aggravate circumstances in parts of the communities most hurt,” he said.

Rep. Gutiérrez said that “too many Americans are caught in the preventible cycle of debt.” He said that “they’ve fallen into bad credit and as a result they cannot do the one thing that would enable them to climb out: get a job, work hard, and earn a better score.”

The bill has 31 cosponsors, most of whom are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

GOP Senator Calls For Do-Over On Health Care Reform

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) believes that congressional Democrats have taken the wrong approach to health care reform and suggests hitting the proverbial reset button.

"My advice would be that we start over," Alexander said during a pen and pad session with reporters. "The main focus should be on the cost of health care for the 250 million Americans who already have it and on the cost of their government once we get through this legislation."

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who also attended, took issue with the optimistic language the Obama administration has been using to describe the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"It's becoming increasingly apparent to the American people that this administration and House Democrats are out of touch with this economy," Pence argued. "The President on July 1st actually said that the stimulus bill had 'done its job'."

Alexander agreed, comparing the statement to a much derided misstep from the previous administration.

"I think his comment...sounds an awful lot to me like 'Mission Accomplished', and President Bush was held accountable for that and I think President Obama should be held accountable for this," Alexander said, referencing former President Bush's 2003 appearance in front of a banner marked "Mission Accomplished" prior to the worst days of the Iraqi insurgency.