Please welcome guest blogger Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.

By Rep. Yvette Clarke, (D-N.Y.)

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.)

(Sept. 24, 2009) Small businesses have experienced difficulties in this challenging economy. More than half of the 763,000 jobs lost in the first half of 2008 were lost in small firms. Small firms continue to face a tough environment into 2009 with concerns in a wide range of areas including access to capital, availability and costs of health insurance, attracting a quality work force, and meeting the unique 21st century global competitive challenge.

During the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, I will be sponsoring two forums that will address some of these issues.  The first forum on Wednesday explores the federal procurement process and will teach attendees about the basics of contracting with Federal government agencies. The second forum will invite small business lending experts to share strategies that minority small businesses can employ to access capital in this tough environment.

On Thursday September 24, legal experts will gather to explain the impact that a recent case, Rothe Development Corporation v. Department of Defense, has had on Federal procurement efforts using minority firms in America.

What’s a small business?  Generally defined as private for profit firms with fewer than 500 employees, are the key to the health of the U.S. economy. Small businesses represent 99.7% of all employer firms, employ about half of all private sector employees, pay nearly 45% of the U.S. private payroll, and are responsible for more than half of non-farm private GDP. Since the mid-1990s small businesses have created 60-80% of the net new jobs in the United States.

 As a Member of the House Committee on Small Business, I am constantly examining ways that Congress can address the needs of our nation’s small businesses, especially those in the 11th District.

I will be focused like a laser on ensuring that small businesses, the engines of our economy, are able to access the resources that they need to expand their capacity. I will be supportive of legislation that creates more avenues for access to capital for small businesses, improves and expands the technical assistance capabilities of the SBA, and increases contracting opportunities for minority, veteran, and women owned small businesses.

Black lawmakers  opened  their annual legislative conference Wednesday, with four days of workshops, panel discussions and town halls planned, designed to educate, involve and influence how they tackle laws and policies impacting the communities they represent.

 The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 39th Annual Legislative Conference  is taking place in the nation’s capital Sept. 23 -26 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. 

Please welcome guest blogger, California Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

By Rep. Maxine Waters (D- Calif.)

Sept. 23, 2009 — Tens of thousands of people will gather in Washington, D.C. this week for the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.  ALC provides a great opportunity for reconnecting with friends, meeting new people, networking and celebrating.  At its heart though are the issues forums – discussions of

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.)

critical issues affecting African Americans by panels made up of elected officials, community leaders and celebrities presenting information and interacting with the audience.

I will be hosting several ALC events, including a banking issues forum where Federal Reserve Chairman Benjamin Bernanke, high-ranking Treasury Department and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation officials, and minority business owners will discuss opportunities for minority-owned firms to do business with federal banking regulators.  I have blogged previously about the importance of this issue: http://blogs.bet.com/news/pamela/2009/07/29/have-tarp-dollars-tapped-into-your-community/ and I have held a series of meetings with Chairman Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Geithner and FDIC Chairman Bair since the financial crisis began about increasing minority participation in the government’s financial rescue programs.  We have had some success creating roles for minority-owned firms within the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Public-Private Investment Program and the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, and we will continue to encourage the inclusion of minority-owned and women-owned firms as the federal banking regulators hire additional outside contractors for legal, accounting, valuation and asset management services. 

U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter and Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree headline a panel of attorneys, advocates and activists during another issues forum I am hosting regarding the topic of eliminating mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug offenses.  This session will examine opportunities for changing current sentencing policy and provide an update on legislation Congress is considering. I have introduced the Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act of 2009 (H.R. 1466), which eliminates mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, and Rep. Bobby Scott, who chairs the crime subcommittee, has introduced the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009 (H.R. 3245), which eliminates the distinction between powder and crack cocaine.  Currently, people convicted of selling crack – who are more likely to be African American – receive significantly longer prison sentences than those convicted of selling an equivalent amount of powder cocaine.  The consequence of this disparity and mandatory minimum sentences is many African Americans being locked up for a long time.

“Young, Gifted and Black” is a forum I created years ago to attract more young people to ALC and get them thinking and talking about issues that directly affect their lives.  YGB features successful, talented people whom our youth can relate to and be inspired by.  It has always been a fun, exciting, provocative and popular part of ALC – and this year promises to continue that tradition.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Sept. 4, 2009 – Black lawmakers want to get out in front of the president’s speech next week and have sent him a letter outlining what they don’t want to see “scaled back” in his plans to overhaul the health care system.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., meets with members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday, June 19, 2008 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Lauren Victoria Burke)

The letter sent Wednesday is signed by three members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) who also serve on the Health and Wellness Task Force:  Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Donna M. Christensen .  They called on the president to “stress unwavering support ” during his address to Congress for the following:

1. Not  reducing cost:  “Reducing the overall cost of a budget-neutral bill is therefore unnecessary and not a strategy that we do or can support.” 

2. Support for a public option:  “A strong public health option that will allow the nation’s more than 46 million uninsured Americans – more than half of whom are people of color – to finally have access to affordable, meaningful health care coverage no later than 2013.”

3. Eliminating health care disparities: “A strong and demonstrative commitment from the White House to, in the days and weeks to come, use health care reform to achieve health equity.”

4. Equality for U.S. Territories:  “The nearly 5 million Americans who live in the U.S. Territories should benefit from health care reform in a manner that is equitable to those Americans who live within the 50 states and in the District of Columbia.”

5. Rewarding preventive health care services: “This strategy will not only allow the realization of true cost savings of prevention, health disparity elimination and other provisions, but it also will provide an avenue through which the savings generated can replace current [payment system].”

Lee, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said the 43 members of the Caucus “are committed allies and partners in the fight to reform America’s broken health care system.”

It will be interesting to hear if any of these policy issues remain in the president’s new version he’ll unveil Sept. 9.  Throughout this debate members of the CBC have been outspoken on these issues and some have made it clear they will not support any legislation without a public option.

This could be a line in the sand for Obama and his former congressional colleagues.

Full Transcript: See the CBC’s Letter to Pres. Obama

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Anaylst

Aug. 17, 2009 — The president’s stance on the public option under health care reform may be wavering, but not with Black lawmakers.  After reports the public option might be off the table, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus released the following statement:  

“Any bill without a public health insurance plan like Medicare is not health reform,” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) wrote.

“The Congressional Black Caucus remains committed to ensuring that health reform is meaningful and that means making sure a public option is part of the package.”
 

“Without a public option there will be no way to keep insurance companies honest and their rates down. A public health option that competes with private insurers will set standards that could help lower costs and improve access.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) agrees. “I am very troubled to hear that after months of negotiations – supposedly moving toward meaningful health care reform – the public option may in fact be off the table.  

“As I have said before, particularly in conjunction with my colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, I will not be able to support a health care reform bill that does not guarantee the creation of a public option that will provide an alternative for the 47 million uninsured Americans and millions more who face rising premiums, deductibles and co-pays.”

Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) said he doesn’t want reform derailed by confusion.  “Simply put, an option is an opportunity; and a public option is a patient opportunity. Consumers must be given the option to make an informed decision about their own health care. A public option merely expands a patient’s ability to choose,” he said.  

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) wrote, “The public option would be minimal regulation, which would ensure that most of the 47 million people who are uninsured would have access to health coverage. The public option is not going to run the insurance companies out of business. Why should we take half measures that do not accomplish the desired result?”

The  president is sure to have more support move away if the public option is a deal breaker.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., from left, is joined by other House Democratic leaders, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md), Pete Stark (D-Calif.), Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and John Dingell (D-Mich.), in a news conference announcing the introduction of health care legislation on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, July 14, 2009. (AP Photo)

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

July 15, 2009 – The Democrats were in lock step underling the importance of the health care reform bill introduced in the Congress Tuesday. The America’s Affordable Health Choice Act of 2009, was praised by minority lawmakers, but it still has room for improvements.

Congressional members representing Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific Americans issued a joint statement from the TriCaucus saying: 

“We applaud this important step toward comprehensive health care reform, of which the cornerstone is a robust public health option and the elimination of health disparities.”

Adding, “While we are encouraged that some of our main concerns are included, some significant priorities still need to be strengthened and we will continue our efforts to ensure that all TriCaucus priorities are included in the final legislation.” 

 Congressional Black Caucus  lawmakers have told me they want to see public health options to include mental health and dental coverage, a commitment to strengthen the office of minority health at the National Institute of Health and have language that would increase ethnic diversity in clinical trials.    

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, (D-S.C.) said, “the bill reduces out-of-control costs, encourages competition among insurance plans to improve choices for patients, and expands access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans.” 

The 1,018-page bill will create a new government insurance option; create the first near-universal health care coverage and raise taxes on the two-percent of the wealthiest individuals to help pay the $1 trillion dollars the bill is estimated to cost.  The bill also identifies cost savings to the bottom line.

I received a flurry of statements from lawmakers touting the virtues of the bill and putting critics on notice.  Rep. Chris Van Holland (D-Md.), issued a statement:  “Our critics will try to scare you, and will fight to keep the status quo because many are beholden to the special interests that profit from a broken system that has led to skyrocketing costs and premiums.  Make no mistake – reforming our health care system is crucial to getting our economy back on track and getting our deficit under control.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “This is indeed a happy day, for today we are introducing historic and transformative legislation that will benefit all Americans, a health insurance act for the great middle class of America.”

Republicans have already started attacking the bill, and its doubtful the days ahead will be a jubilant as Tuesday for Democrats.  Now the House Committees on Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means, will  have to lead the bill through the process of becoming law.

President Obama sounded optimist, “Don’t be fooled by folks trying to scare you by saying we can’t change the health care system. We have no choice but to fix the health care system because right now it’s broken for too many Americans.”

Do you support giving every American health care? 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

May 26, 2009 – Black lawmakers announced last week they will begin a limited hunger strike today to draw more attention to the situation in Darfur and to encourage President Obama to take steps in addressing the crisis.

One of those African-American lawmakers who will be joining the Darfur Fast for Life campaign on Tuesday is California Rep. Maxine Waters (D).  

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus announced they want to meet with President Obama to discuss placing sanctions against Sudan, the deployment of international peacekeeping forces and starting a new push for more cooperation from China regarding the situation in Darfur.

Lawmakers are requesting a meeting as soon as possible, but with the recent developments on Monday with the announcement by North Korea that they have completed a successful nuclear test and plan to launch more short-range missiles, Darfur may once again find itself  lower on the priority list.

Waters will be posting a blog on the topic later today, so check back to see what she has to say about her first day fasting.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Feb. 26, 2009 – President Barack Obama outlined his first budget for the nation’s ailing economy, targeting cuts to wasteful spending on health care and raising taxes on the wealthy. The plan calls for spending $3.55 trillion in 2010 as well as adding $3.9 trillion in spending to the 2009 budget.

“Having inherited a trillion-dollar deficit that will take a long time for us to close, we need to focus on what we need to move the economy forward, not on what’s nice to have,” Obama said during his opening remarks.

So, how will the president’s budget impact you?

Obama’s proposed budget lays out a plan for overhauling one of the largest entitlement programs: Medicare. He isn’t looking to balance the budget this year, but he would allow the tax cuts from the Bush years to expire (on those making more than $250,000), and cut taxes for the middle class (those making less than $250.000).

That means the $400.00 (if you’re single) or the $800.00 (for couples) designated as the middle class tax cut in the stimulus package would become permanent. The budget also calls for expanding existing tax credits for college students and the child tax credit.

Black lawmakers met with the president Thursday afternoon at the White House and told reporters it was “a very open meeting.”  Rep. Barbara Lee, (D-Calif.) told reporters after the closed door meeting that they discussed “how we move forward.” 

“The president is a former member of the Congressional Black Caucus and we’ve been working with the president on our priorities and those for all Americans.”

But health care is the biggie.  The president is looking at getting huge savings from Medicare and Medicaid and getting an estimated 48 million uninsured folks insured.  In the president’s budget he would set aside $634 billion over the next 10 years to get the job done.

Obama told those gathered, “As we develop a full budget that will come out this spring, we’re going to go through our books page by page, line by line, to eliminate waste and inefficiency. This is a process that will take some time, but in the last 30 days alone, we have already identified $2 trillion in deficit reductions that will help us cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term.”

The rest of the money would come from cuts in Medicare across the board.  Insurance plans, hospitals, nursing homes and drug companies would face cuts because all health care contracting would be open for competitive bidding.  Something these programs don’t do now.  If Congress allows this, it could result in substantial savings and drive some costs down.

This strategy won’t sit well with his Republican critics and fiscally conservative Democrats.  They may agree with his plan to pay for health care with savings rather than adding it to the budget woes, but they may not come on board with what they consider tax hikes.

Now we’ll have to see what Congress does with the president’s budget. 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Feb. 17, 2009 – No word on the short list of candidates for commerce secretary but  Black lawmakers are once again pitching technology executive John W. Thompson’s name for the short list. 

You may recall in January, members of the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to the president requesting Thomas be given consideration for the job.  “We commend you for making diversity an important priority as you consider your Cabinet selections, in terms of race, perspectives, party and geography given past progress by other presidents in naming African-Americans to senior Cabinet posts,” the letter stated.

Thompson, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the technology firm Symantec Corporation, is keeping mum about his interest.  But if he were to be nominated he would follow New Mexico’s Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson who bowed out in early January, and Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire who surprised everyone by withdrawing his name last week.

With the apparent difficulty to fill the position some inside the beltway are asking: Is the department dispensable?    Derek Shearer, a former deputy undersecretary at Commerce from the Clinton years says President Obama may want to consider “abolishing” the department and redistributing some of its responsibilities with the creation of new agencies.

Shearer is suggesting the following: spinning the “largely autonomous” Census Bureau into an independent agency; making the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration along with the National Institute of Standards and Technology separate agencies; and combining the remaining agencies into a new Department of Industry and Trade.  Shearer believes the new agency with emphasis on industry and trade would be a far more attractive job and increase the pool of interested candidates.

I doubt the Obama administration has dumping the Commerce Department on the radar, but it’s not far-fetched.  Vice President Joe Biden, while in the senate voted for a similar scenario for the department in the 1990s.   

I’m sure the folks pulling for Thompson would agree he’s qualified for the job regardless of how the cabinet-level post shapes up. 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Jan. 30, 2008 – In a letter to President Obama Black lawmakers made their case for the appointment of John W. Thompson  as the next commerce secretary.  The open letter was signed by 38 of 41 members of the Congressional Black in an effort to lobby for Thompson’s appointment.  

Thompson is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the technology firm Symantec Corporation.  Symantec’s business focus is consumer software publishing, security, storage and systems management solutions technology.

According to “The Hill”, the letter was sent to the president last week and listed not only the call for Thompson’s appointment but pointed out Obama had fewer Black Cabinet members than served under President Bill Clinton.  During Clinton’s two terms he appointed seven African-Americans.  So far,  Obama has only named four African-Americans to his Cabinet.    

“We commend you for making diversity an important priority as you consider your Cabinet selections, in terms of race, perspectives, party and geography given past progress by other presidents in naming African-Americans to senior Cabinet posts,” the letter stated.

Thompson is no stranger to Washington he was appointed in 2002 by President George W. Bush to serve on the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee (NIAC).  They were tasked with making recommendations regarding the security of critical infrastructure in the United States. 

Obama had selected New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for the position but Richardson pulled out in January because of pending legal inquiries. 

There is no confirmation from the White House that Thompson’s name is on the short list of candidates. But with him being one of the highest ranking technology executive he’s definitely in the running.

  Thompson’s undergraduate degree is from Florida A&M University and he has a master’s degree in management science from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Do you think Obama should select more African-American’s in his administration?

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Jan. 17, 2009 – It’s official: the newly appointed African-American Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) is not only a member of the Senate, but is now a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.  And like his predecessor the only Black lawmaker in the Senate. 

California Rep. Barbara Lee (D), chairwomen of the caucus and I spoke Friday and she told me following Burris’s swearing Wednesday:  “I invited him and he accepted,” she said. 

Lee had authored a letter early in the week on behalf of lawmakers requesting Burris be sworn-in.  While the controversy of his appointment was centered on embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the caucus felt the appointment was valid and  Burris should be seated.

The 111th Congress will mark a historical number of Black lawmakers’ in House leadership positions.   Fifteen subcommittee chairs and four committees will be chaired by African-American.  “It’s our moment – and our agenda continues to be the conscience of the Congress,” Lee told me.   

Lee said the swearing in of the 44th president will take place just as the caucus celebrates its 40th anniversary.  “We’ll continue on the mission of equity and justice,” she said.

  On a personal note, Lee said as President Barack Obama is being sworn in, she can’t help but remember those who made it possible.  “Obama didn’t just happen overnight, our ancestors before us made it possible” she said.

“My mom couldn’t enter the hospital to deliver me; growing up during segregation I remember my father, a member of the service, not being allowed in restaurants,” she re-called.  “This [inauguration] is an exciting moment – we owe them a debt of gratitude.”