El Semanario
Posted on 03-01-2012

8,000 Petitions Delivered to GOP

This week in Phoenix, AZ, undocumented youth and allies with the DRM Capitol Group, the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition and others delivered approximately 8,000 petitions to the Arizona Republican Party headquarters, urging Republican candidates to stop opposing the DREAM Act and to change their rhetoric on immigration. The youth pledged to educate the entire Latino community in Arizona about the extreme anti-immigrant policies of GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney.

Misguided Bills Weaken Education
The Congressional Tri-Caucus sent a letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce expressing their opposition to legislation – Student Success Act (H.R. 3989) and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act (H.R. 3990), the final two pieces of legislation revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), more commonly known as No Child Left Behind -- which dramatically rolls back the civil rights protections inherent in ESEA. Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez (TX-20), Chair of Congressional Hispanic Caucus, stated: “It is deeply unsettling that this issue has become laden with partisan politics. Students of color are three times more likely than their white peers to attend a low performing school and it is vital that schools are held accountable to standards of educational success.”

Women’s Health Wednesdays
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-1), co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus, launched the inaugural “Women’s Health Wednesday,” on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. “Women’s Health Wednesday’s” are an opportunity for Members of Congress to take a stand against the unceasing attacks on women’s health care currently taking place from the halls of Congress to our national political arena. They will be held each Wed. the House is in session.

Justice for Mortgage Holders
Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva and Keith Ellison, the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), joined advocates in calling on Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to write down mortgage principal amounts for struggling homeowners. “Twelve million Americans owe more money than their home is worth,” Grijalva and Ellison said. “The American people have been duped, lied to, and kicked out of their homes, and now it’s time for Mr. DeMarco to stand up and do right by them.”

Udall Advocates for Farmers
With a large number of the nation's farmers approaching retirement age, Mark Udall is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to look for new, innovative ways to encourage young people to take up farming. The USDA announced it will develop a web portal called Start2Farm.gov to function as an online resource to direct new and small farmers to resources that can help them become successful.