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.

Democrats, Inspired by Obama, Take First Congressional Baseball Game Since 2000

On Wednesday night Republican and Democratic congressmen faced off against one another at Nationals Park in the 48th annual Congressional Baseball Game. The Democrats won the game 15-10 in seven innings.

Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), who said he started warming up his arm months ago for this game, pitched all seven innings for the Democrats. The Democrats won the game for the first time since 2000. Baca stated after the game that the team was inspired by the election of President Obama this year, and that it was time for change both on and off the field.

The home-team Democrats started off the scoring with a six-run second inning against GOP starter Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), but the Republicans quickly answered in the top of the third inning with six runs themselves.

The Democrats, aided by several fielding errors and walks, then scored nine runs in the bottom of the third off of reliever Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.). The Republicans mounted a small comeback in the top of the seventh and final inning, but their three runs were not enough to win the game.

Do you weigh what you did in high school?

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
“Pollution begins at your lips; you are what you eat, and from the Kagen point of view, you ought to weigh today what you did as a senior in high school,” stated Congressman Steve Kagen (D-Wa.) at the House Agricultural Committee hearing on obesity in America. Kagen said that America is overweight and that there is no question about it. He pointed out that, “if it tastes good, it’s probably not good for you.”

Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) said that obesity is affecting economics, health, and the well-being of our people. “Obesity is contributing to rising healthcare costs, the loss of productivity in the workplace and various life threatening conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases as well as stroke,” stated Fortenberry. The congressman said that he believes access to good nutrition and nutritional education is the key.

Congressman Joe Baca (D-Calif.) said that, “statistics indicate that more than 1/3 of our population is considered obese.” He explained that he is troubled by the economic consequences our nation faces due to obesity. “We can continue to work together to fight obesity and create a healthier nation,” said Baca.

William Dietz, director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a recent paper suggests that “the deaths for obesity in adolescents are approximately equivalent to those deaths attributable to smoking.” According to Dietz obesity related disease is accounted for 25 percent of the increase in medical costs between 1997 and 2001. He said that we have a choice: we can pay for the care of these diseases or we can choose to prevent these diseases.

Dietz stated that, “60 percent of adults are overweight or obese, 30 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. that far exceeds the capacity of the medical system.” He went on to say that people must make good choices, but also pointed out that they must have good choices to make. He said that children in suburbs can’t walk to school because of a lack of sidewalks, and inner-city populations are surrounded by fast good restaurants.

New York City has implemented regulations in childcare programs such as requiring children 12 months or older to participate in 30-60 minutes of physical activity, restricts television viewing to 60 minutes, and prohibits the availability of sugar-sweetened beverages. Dietz said that there are already states that are taxing snacks and sugar sweetened beverages.

Dietz said there seems to be a connection between television and obesity, “the more television a child watches the more likely they are to consume foods while watching television, and the more likely it is those are foods are foods advertised on television.”

Kagen posed the question, “is it a form of child abuse to continue to feed children things that are not good for them?” Dietz said that it is an odd form of abuse because it comes from giving too much rather than giving too little.