Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) says that in order to move forward with healthcare reform, “we must reject the spurious claims that the cost of reforming healthcare in America is something our nation can’t afford,” and “if we fail to act, and we fail to act now, we do so at the peril of the American people.” (0:37)
By Mariko Lamb – Talk Radio News Service
The Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday urged Congress to overcome the notion that healthcare reform would cost too much and push forward with quality healthcare reform bills immediately.
“The economy is in the Intensive Care Unit, the disease is the burgeoning cost of healthcare, and the medicine is healthcare reform,” said Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.).
“As far as I’m concerned, no cost is too great,” chimed Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.). He added that it is Congress’s responsibility to ensure that “each and every individual in our country has access to the highest quality of healthcare that we can provide.”
Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said that in order to move forward with healthcare reform, “we must reject the spurious claims that the cost of reforming healthcare in America is something we can’t afford,” and added that “if we fail to act, and we fail to act now, we do so at the peril of the American people.”
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) reminded fellow Congressmen that “whatever we pass in the House, whatever they pass in the Senate, will not be the final product.” He urged both the House and Senate to get a bill passed before the Congressional recess in August and to then use August and September for the two Congressional bodies to establish a final package.
Clyburn insisted that the goal of Congress should be to have “something for the President to sign before the end of this calendar year.”
By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service
The Congressional Black Caucus welcomed actress and activist Mia Farrow Tuesday for the launch of the Darfur Fast for Life Campaign. According to a press release form Congressman Donald Payne’s office, the campaign calls on the CBC and others “to fast in solidarity with the Darfuri people who are suffering at the hands of the Omar al-Bashir regime in Sudan.”
Farrow discussed her experiences while in the region and said, “I was there when a school on the edge of the Darfur-Chad border was named the Obama school and with it there were so many expressions of hope.”
Farrow also said that as she stood in front of the Capitol she was reminded of how the American people are defining themselves. She commented that Americans are “bystanders to a genocide.”
Farrow is working to change this image and fasted for twelve days to call attention to the problems in Darfur. United States Representative and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Donald Payne (D-NJ) began a three-day water-only fast of his own on May 11, 2009, to prompt congressional leaders and the Obama administration to keep Darfur high on their list of priorities.
Omer Ismail, a Sudanese and senior advisor for Enough:the project to end genocide and crimes against humanity said, “We are trying to see to it that the United States is going to help end this tragedy in Darfur and bring peace to the whole Sudan because Darfur is a state or a region in Sudan that is ridded with problems. But it is part of the bigger problem of Sudan that is security, democracy, peace and a rule of law.”
By Candyce Torres, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service. Interview with Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) commenting on the 200th Anniversary of President Lincoln’s birthday and praising the unveiling of the Emancipation Proclamation.
At a Congressional Black Caucus event, Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) led a panel on role models, music, and health practices that create the black social construct. Kym Whitley, comedian and actress, spoke about blacks in media, and how they affected her upbringing. Whitley and Richardson enthusiastically agreed about black women being critiqued as ‘too tough’, or ‘too strong’ in television and reality.
Richardson introduced Alfred Liggins, chairman and CEO of Radio One which hosts dozens of radio stations from the gospel to hip-hop genres. During a discussion about the media’s responsibility in characterizing blacks as uneducated, Liggins said “It is not the media’s job to legislate morality. The parents have the responsibility. In fact, the music culture has spawned large-scale economic opportunity.”
Dr. Robin Smith, author of Lies at the Altar, captivated the audience with her motivational speech on images the black community creates for themselves, disregarding the way society tries to portray them. Citing facts about the rates at which black women repeatedly fall into failed relationships and the number of black women who are obsese in America–four out of five– Smith explained that the individual must address their problems before putting blame on anyone.
