Press Releases

CPC, CBC, CAPAC, CHC Send Letter to Attorney General Holder on Racial Profiling

May 11, 2014

Leaders from the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus sent a letter to Attorney General Holder yesterday asking for a meeting on new guidelines for racial profiling. The quad-caucus letter was signed by Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) for the Progressive Caucus, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) for the Black Caucus, Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas) for the Hispanic Caucus and Judy Chu (D-Calif.) for the Asian Pacific American Caucus. The text of the letter is below and a .pdf version can be found here.

May 7,2014

As leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and as the representatives of millions of Americans who will be affected by the Department of Justice’s revisions to its 2003 guidance on racial profiling, we write to respectfully request a meeting with you before the new guidance is finalized.

We appreciate the difficult job the Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies do to pursue justice for Americans and keep our country safe. Recent news reports indicate that the Department of Justice plans to strengthen anti-profiling provisions, but that federal law enforcement agencies would still be able to engage in profiling that could violate the constitutional rights of American citizens. It is critical that the revised guidance prohibit profiling based on race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation and gender identity. It must also eliminate loopholes for border and national security, apply to state and local law enforcement agencies that partner with the federal government or receive federal finding, and cover surveillance activities.

These improvements will help ensure that the rights of our nation’s increasingly diverse citizens are protected from the inappropriate use of profiling by law enforcement officials. The revised guidance should reduce instances of Customs and Border Protection agents routinely stopping law-abiding Latino-Americans on suspected immigration violations, and the FBI’s practice of mapping entire ethnic communities without any basis for individualized suspicion, including African-Americans, Russian-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans. The revised guidance

must mitigate the invasive searches Sikh-Americans endure at airport security simply because of their appearance, and the interrogations Muslim-Americans sometimes experience regarding their constitutionally protected religious beliefs and political activities.

We appreciate your commitment to ending racial profiling in all its forms and look forward to meeting with you to discuss how law enforcement agencies can do their job while upholding their obligation to treat all Americans fairly and equally under the law.

Sincerely,

 

CPC Co-Chair Statement on National Climate Assessment

May 6, 2014

Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) released the following statement this afternoon on the new U.S. National Climate Assessment.

“The report released today makes it clear the United States is not living within its ecological means. If we refuse to change course, we undermine our economy, our climate and our way of life. The worst effects of global heating can be avoidedonly with swift action. Congress must create jobs by putting a price on carbon and investing in clean energy, modern transportation systems and a twenty-first century energy grid.

“The damage caused by climate change is already disproportionately affecting communities of color and low-income communities. The lessons of Hurricane Katrina have not reached the halls of Congress. We can create jobs and protect our environment at the same time. If we don’t, severe storms and hurricanes will continue to destroy homes, shortages of clean water will become more acute in resource-poor areas, and extreme heat will cause food supply shortages and price spikesfor years to come. Those and other hardships will hit communities of color and low-income communities hardest. Waiting for more disasters to strike will only make the transition to a warmer world more difficult and more expensive.

“Doing what we’ve always done benefits the wealthy few at the expense of everyone else. Congress should take action now – action that we know is in our own best interest. Taxpayer subsidies for oil companies making record profits are not in our best interest. Building the Keystone XL pipeline to allow a Canadian company to export dirty tar sands to China is not in our best interest. Weand the American peoplebelieve we must do better. We stand with the president in supporting strong limits on climate pollution from power plants, rejecting the ‘carbon bomb’ known as tar sands oil and the pipelines that transport it like Keystone XL, and calling on Congress to pass meaningful, job-creating climate legislation.”

CPC Co-Chair Statement on Senate Minimum Wage Vote

April 30, 2014

WASHINGTON – Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Co-Chairs Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) released the following statement today after Senate Republicans blocked a bill to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 and increase the tipped minimum wage: 

“We are deeply disappointed that Republicans in the House and Senate continue to fight for the world’s biggest corporations and ignore working families who can’t survive on $14,500 a year. The cost of food and childcare has increased, while the minimum wage is lower than it was in 1968 after calculating for inflation.  

“A stagnant federal minimum wage is a stain on our nation. It tells working Americans putting in fifty or sixty hours a week that it doesn’t matter how hard they work—they will never get ahead. Approximately 28 million people would see a pay increase if we increased the minimum wage to $10.10 and 900,000 would be lifted out of poverty. Raising the minimum is the right choice for American businesses who are starving for customers. It would create a needed increase in economic activity, which allows businesses to grow and hire more people.”

“A fair minimum wage that is enough to put a roof over your head and food on the table should be a basic promise Congress makes to America’s families. Today’s vote is not the last. The Congressional Progressive Caucus will continue to organize and advocate for an increase in the federal minimum wage until President Obama signs the bill.”  

CPC Co-Chairs: Workplace Fairness Can't Wait

April 8, 2014

Increasing transparency makes it easier for workers to know if they're underpaid. These two orders give more power to the hard-working people who serve the federal government in contract positions. We applaud the president's leadership and we urge the Senate to build on it by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act tomorrow. The private sector should follow the government's example and close the pay gap for all workers.

Progressive Caucus: Time to Renew Unemployment Insurance

April 7, 2014

Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), along with Progressive Caucus Members Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Andre Carson (D-IN), Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Steve Cohen (D-TN), John Conyers (D-MI), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Sam Farr (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Alan Grayson (D-FL), Mike Honda (D-CA), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Barbara Lee (D-CA) Gwen Moore (D-WI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Mark Takano (D-CA) applauded the passage of an extension of emergency unemployment insurance by the Senate and called on Speaker Boehner to put the bill on the floor of the House of Representatives as soon as possible.

CPC Co-Chairs: McCutcheon Decision Another Disaster For Keeping Money Out Of Politics

April 3, 2014

Yesterday's decision, like Citizens United before it, hands more political power to the highest bidders. Instead of strengthening our democracy, Chief Justice Roberts and the conservative wing of the Court continue to chip away its foundations. Our democracy doesn't work when a small minority makes it impossible for the majority to participate, but that's what McCutcheon and Citizens United have done.

CPC Co-Chairs: Don't Derail the Doc Fix

March 14, 2014

House Republicans have proven once again that they can't be trusted when it comes to Medicare. Instead of taking this opportunity to pass a bipartisan agreement that finally fixes Medicare physician payments, Republicans decided to attack the Affordable Care Act and leave seniors wondering if this problem will ever be solved.

CPC Co-Chairs: Executive Action on Overtime Pay Does Right By Hard-Working Americans

March 13, 2014

We applaud the president for taking steps to make sure hard-working Americans are paid fairly. The order will directly benefit middle-class families, ensuring that hard-working employees get paid overtime when they work overtime. Eighty-eight percent of salaried workers don't currently qualify for overtime protections because they make over $455 per week, which still leaves a family of four in poverty.

Progressive Caucus Unveils the Better Off Budget

March 12, 2014

The Congressional Progressive Caucus' Better Off Budget reverses the damage their austerity agenda has inflicted on hard-working families and restores our economy to its full potential by creating 8.8 million jobs by 2017.
« First < Prev Next > Last »