September 2007

While Rudy Giuliani promises to be tough on immigration, his record as Mayor of New York City shows a different picture, and raises questions about the Republican candidate's swing to the far right on the issue. A day after accepting the endorsement of former California Governor Pete Wilson, best known for promoting the divisive Proposition 187 targeting immigrants, Rudy Giuliani continues to run away from his record on immigration while he campaigns in Los Angeles today. Full release

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (Joint Center) is launching an effort to engage the African American community on the issue of climate change. The move is being funded by the Bipartisan Policy Center which is providing the Joint Center with a $500,000 grant to expand its capacity to conduct climate change research and outreach. Full release

U.S. Conference of Mayors President Trenton (NJ) Mayor Douglas H. Palmer will participate in the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 37th Annual Legislative Conference this Saturday, September 29, at the Washington Convention Center. Full release

Auditor General Jack Wagner today urged the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to immediately improve its administration and oversight of travel on state-owned aircraft. Full release

The following is a statement from William V. Corr, Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Last night, the U.S. Senate put the health of America's children first with a veto-proof majority voting for a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax to help fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Full release

Hollywood celebrated the power of 18 last night as Declare Yourself, the national nonpartisan, nonprofit youth voter initiative aimed at empowering and encouraging America's 18-year-olds to register and vote in the 2008 primaries and general election, presented a spectacular star-studded event. Full release

Aaron Belkin, director of the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara, today issued the following statement in response to outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace's comment before the Senate Appropriations Committee that he supports a "change" to the current ban on open gays in the military. Full release

Mitt Romney, "who once said donating to his presidential campaign would be a nightmare," told an audience of donors in California yesterday that he will again dip into his deep pockets to keep his campaign afloat. Full release

AARP, representing more than 39 million Americans 50-plus, and the American Medical Association (AMA), the nation's largest physician group, together strongly urged President Bush today to sign CHIP, a bipartisan bill that would ensure that nearly 10 million children get the health care they need. The President has made public statements announcing his intent to veto this legislation. Full release

The number of workers receiving disability in the U.S. is growing so rapidly that these benefits are now the fastest rising component of Social Security spending -- growing at nearly twice the rate of retirement benefits, according to a new analysis from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). Full release

"We've seen it all before," said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League, referring to the developing situation in Aurora, Illinois where Planned Parenthood is reported to have constructed a new abortion facility without following the proper procedures to obtain the required special use permit. Full release

With the regular process in collapse, the House of Representatives passed a "continuing resolution" yesterday, to spend nearly $1,900 per U.S. family on the operations of the U.S. government through November 15, 2007. The bill is likely to be passed by the Senate and signed by the President before the
October 1 end of the 2007 fiscal year. Full release

In recognition of Pennsylvania's success in eliminating fraud and abuse in the Food Stamp program, Governor Edward G. Rendell today accepted a $3.7 million high performance bonus award from the United States Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. Full release

EcoSecurities, one of the world's leading companies in the business of sourcing, developing and trading carbon offsets from greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction projects, has pledged its expertise to the Clinton Global Initiative in offsetting the GHG emissions from its annual conference, which takes place in New York this week, September 26-28, 2007. Full release

A federal jury in Anchorage, Alaska, has found former Alaska state representative and former Alaska Speaker of the House Peter Kott guilty of bribery, extortion and conspiracy for corruptly soliciting and receiving financial benefits from a company in exchange for performing official acts in the Alaska State Legislature on the company's behalf, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. Full release

On Monday, October 1st, The Concord Coalition will join with other federal budget analysts to host a stop on our Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, a nationwide series of town hall forums focusing on the nation's long-term fiscal challenge. U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker will be the featured speaker. Full release

Last night the Senate unanimously passed an amendment that will expand business opportunities for veterans and help reservists keep their businesses afloat during deployment. Full release

"If the Republican Party renounces comprehensive immigration reform in favor of 'enforcement only,' Democrats will capture New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Florida, and Iowa in the upcoming presidential contest," said Americas Majority Foundation (A.M.F.) research analyst Richard Nadler. Full release

The leading Republican presidential contenders have stood stubbornly behind President Bush on issue after issue and now they also appear to be standing behind his threat to veto health care for low-income children. America's voters deserve to know: Would Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson veto the children's health care bill that Congress will likely pass today? Full release

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) today announced details of its 2007 Public Policy Conference, part of its 30th Anniversary Hispanic Heritage Month events. Hispanic Members of Congress and prominent Latino experts and national leaders will participate in more than 30 separate events taking place on September 30 - October 3, 2007, at the Washington DC, Convention Center, under the theme Hispanic America: A Legacy of Honor.
Full release

Presidential candidate Senator John Edwards announced yesterday a new proposal for a more cost-effective approach towards stopping HIV/AIDS in the US and abroad. His plan also includes greater action to address violence against women and to provide reproductive health services.
Full release

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) announced today its "Ideas for Change" in health care, which call on all 2008 presidential candidates to address the country's chronic disease crisis in their health care plans. Full release

The Hispanic Business Alliance (HBA) announces that 2008 Presidential Candidate, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) will address the Hispanic Business Expo and Economic Summit, as the keynote speaker of the General Motors Luncheon, on Friday, September 28, 2007. The Luncheon begins at Noon in the Renaissance Ballroom of the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center. Full release

Life for Relief and Development (LIFE), an American non-profit humanitarian relief organization based in Southfield Michigan, as part of its ongoing efforts to alleviate human suffering, and in partnership with Veterans for Peace (VFP), an American non-governmental organization based in St. Louis, Missouri, completed a major rehabilitation project for a water plant in southern Iraq, providing clean drinking water for thousands of residents. Full release

Documents released by the White House, little noticed at the time, showed that Dan Rather got President Bush's National Guard absences right, says Robert Weiner, a former Clinton and Bush White House public affairs official. Full release

Exposing the empty record behind the type of tough talk that the National Troopers Association will likely hear in Maine this afternoon, the Washington Post today highlights Rudy Giuliani's numerous exaggerations about his experience on terrorism. Not only was terrorism "a narrow aspect of his broader crime-fighting agenda" as a Justice Department official and New York City prosecutor, Giuliani advocated for the same law enforcement measures against terrorists that he now condemns. Full release

As part of its ongoing assessment of the impact of Medicaid documentation requirements enacted by Congress in 2006, The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (GW SPHHS) compiled profiles documenting the experiences of community health centers across the country. The details that emerged as part of the research, which is supported by the RCHN Community Health Foundation, illustrate the major and measurable impact the rules are having on access to care and health centers' operations. Full release

The following is being issued by the National Press Foundation: Middle class worries about health coverage and insurance costs are increasing. The number of uninsured Americans under 65 continues to grow. Full release

Today in Washington, presidential candidate Senator John Edwards is announcing a new proposal for what the US needs to do next to stop HIV/AIDS in the US and abroad. Full release

Dr. Helena S. Wisniewski, Stevens Institute of Technology's Vice President for University Research & Enterprise Development, has been appointed to the Naval Research Advisory Committee (NRAC) by the Secretary of the Navy, with the concurrence of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Full release

Effective today, the first woman of color elected as top officer at the National AFL-CIO, Linda Chavez- Thompson, will retire from her historic position. Chavez-Thompson, a second generation American and the daughter of cotton sharecroppers, won election as Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO in 1995. Full release

Life for Relief and Development (LIFE), an American non-profit humanitarian relief organization based in Southfield Michigan, as part of its ongoing efforts to alleviate human suffering, and in partnership with Veterans for Peace (VFW), an American non-governmental organization based in St. Louis, Missouri, completed a major rehabilitation project for a water plant in southern Iraq, providing clean drinking water for thousands of residents. Full release

Today, Democratic National Committee Chairman, Howard Dean, issued the following statement commemorating Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement: "Coinciding with the Sabbath, sundown on Friday marks the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews around the world." Full release

MTV and the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) will host a roundtable discussion on the state of affairs of youth activism later this month in New York City, bringing together a panel of icons and change makers that will include President Clinton, Bono, Chris Rock, Alicia Keys, Shakira, and Christina Norman, President of MTV. Full release

As presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani prepares to address gun-owners and Second Amendment advocates later this morning in Washington, D.C., senior officials from the firearms industry will be in Mr. Giuliani's hometown fighting a lawsuit the candidate filed -- and refuses to disavow -- seeking to hold law-abiding firearms manufacturers responsible for the criminal misuse of their products by others. Full release

California First Lady Maria Shriver will be sitting down to dinner with more than 300 families of Tenderloin Community School in San Francisco at 5:30 p.m. PST Monday, Sept. 24, at 627 Turk Street. The event will celebrate Family Day -- A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children(TM), a national movement that reminds parents about the importance of parental engagement in their children's lives and encourages parents to have frequent family dinners with their kids as an effective way to prevent substance abuse. Full release

Prominent Latino leaders attended a rally today sponsored by Californians for Marriage calling for a constitutional amendment to protect marriage as a man and a woman before Governor Schwarzenegger's expected veto of 'same-sex' marriage legislation in the nation's most populous state. Full release

The American Medical Association (AMA) National House Call campaign visits New Mexico today and urges residents to help press Congress to stop scheduled Medicare cuts. Unless Congress intervenes, Medicare will slash physician payments 15 percent over the next two years. Full release

With the UN failing to deliver on its first Millennium Development Goal to halve hunger by 2015, anti-poverty agency ActionAid is calling on President Lula da Silva of Brazil to convince world leaders to take action to end hunger. Arriving this weekend for the 62nd General Assembly in New York, it is hoped President Lula will convince President Bush to support nations in their efforts to bring an end to hunger and poverty. Full release

American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies today announced results from a national survey assessing public views on safety of prescription medicines, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and overall satisfaction with the U.S. health care system. Full release

The Democratic National Committee today condemned Peter King's statement that there are "too many mosques in this country," and called on Rudy Giuliani to fire King as his homeland security adviser. King is on Giuliani's Homeland Security Advisory Board and according to the New York Post is a "top adviser". Full release

The following was released today by the Democratic National Committee:

"Smooth-talking Mitt Romney may be in Florida, but his hypocrisy and empty rhetoric are on full display in New Hampshire and Washington today. On the same day he released a new ad on Granite State television highlighting the need for change, Romney also rolled out a legislative agenda that offers nothing but more of the same failed Bush leadership." Full release.

Judge Patrick Brady of Norfolk County, Massachusetts Superior Court has denied a motion by a breastfeeding mother for a preliminary injunction that would have given her additional break time for her to pump breast milk during the national medical licensing examination. Full release.

Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's executive director, issued the following statement in response to today's failed vote on cloture on the Specter-Leahy-Dodd amendment to the U.S. Department of Defense authorization bill to restore habeas corpus:

"The United States Senate missed a major opportunity to demonstrate leadership by failing to provide Senators the opportunity to help re-establish a cornerstone of the U.S. justice system -- the right to habeas corpus. By not voting for cloture, the Senate gave up an important chance to help restore the United States' reputation as a nation that respects and adheres to the rule of law." Full release

Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point:

"Today's announcement by the Federal Reserve to reduce interest rates underscores the economic insecurity that middle-class Americans have long been feeling. A weakening economy, record home foreclosures, record energy prices, and meager job creation are not just numbers, but rather serious challenges for working families across the country." Full release

The government has filed a complaint alleging that the former general counsel of Tenet Healthcare Corporation violated the False Claims Act, the Justice Department announced today. The suit contends that in 1997 and 1998, Christi Sulzbach submitted false certifications to the Department of Health and Human Services, which allowed Tenet to bill Medicare for millions of dollars in claims that it was not entitled to receive. Full release

America's first charter school opened in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1992. Fifteen years and 40 states later, the popular charter school movement is still growing steadily. According to a new study conducted by the Center for Education Reform, the number of charter schools opening this school year is up eight percent from last year. According to the center, more than 4,100 charter schools currently serve over 1.2 million students across the country. Full release

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins today applauded Maryland's Highest Court for upholding the state's marriage law. In this case, as with many other marriage cases across the country, Family Research Council (FRC) filed an amicus brief supporting the state's marriage law which defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. Full release

A groundbreaking survey of more than 6,000 American congregations reveals that churches spend a significant amount of time, energy and money in the ministries of health care. The Congregational Health Ministry Survey, conducted by the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shows that a majority of churches are ministering to their communities by providing health care ministries. Full release

A new TV ad attacking Rudy Giuliani for failing to address the Iraq War problem when he had the chance as a member of the Iraq Study Group (ISG) will begin airing this week in Iowa. The former mayor was asked to leave the prestigious committee because of his frequent absences. Rather than meeting his obligation to the group, Giuliani spent his time collecting high fees for speaking engagements all over the country. Full release

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