Raúl joined House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. John Larson Aug. 23 for a press conference in Tucson to discuss the importance of the Fair Elections Now Act, a bill to create public financing for qualifying Congressional candidates who receive sufficient small-dollar private donations. Sixty-seven percent of voters favor a citizen-funded fair election system, and an [...]
Raúl has been named one of the 30 best Members of Congress by Corporate Voices for Working Families and Working Mother Media. The award honors lawmakers who have made an extraordinary effort to improve the lives of working families. The awards were given based on applicants’ voting record, sponsored and co-sponsored legislation, and efforts to [...]
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 128 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10 percent in June. Yuma, in western Arizona, again recorded one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates at 26.4 percent. Yet instead of taking action, Congress recently approved another $34 billion for the ongoing war in Afghanistan that adds [...]
The University of Arizona’s Disability Resource Center got a new $500,000 funding stream in mid-July to enhance its injured and disabled veterans assistance program. The school’s Veterans Education and Transition Services (VETS) effort is nationally recognized for its commitment to helping injured veterans seeking higher educational opportunities. Rep. Grijalva arranged startup funding for the program [...]
Once again, war is being paid for with a credit card while investments in our children’s future are tossed aside. These investments – $10 billion for teacher jobs, $1 billion for summer youth employment, $5 billion for Pell grants, $701 million for border security – were cut from the war funding bill coming to the [...]
In the wake of the CBO estimates, and amidst a climate of increasing concerns about the national debt, Grijalva charged that self-styled deficit hawks against the measure are inherently being disingenuous, if not worse.
“They’re hypocrites,” Grijalva said. “Basically, they’re against the public option, period, for philosophical reasons, and the excuse that it was going to be too expensive is phony. They’re phonies.”
“They say the senate has a luxury of time, six-year cycles for elections,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus. “But these last 18 months have, in memory, have not only been the most frustrating but the inertia created in the Senate is what is jeopardizing Democrats and progressives’ opportunities in the midterms. It is not our lack of action. It has been their lack of action.”
I think that this administration is our administration and we need to work with them, whether it’s Congress or organizations that are trying to influence where they’re taking us with policy or what they’re doing with their budget. Having said that, however, it’s also an administration and a Congressional leadership that has to have thier feet held to the fire. The susceptibility of Washington D.C. sometimes is to err on the side of caution over and over again. And I think we’ve been overly cautious.
Only when these multi-billion dollar companies are forced to bear the full costs of their actions will they take safety seriously. Let’s send a simple, responsible message to Big Oil: “You break it, you buy it.”
I just attended a panel discussion on the new P Street Project. Progressives in Congress should be really excited about this new venture. It will bring together different voices and opinions from our community and take them directly to the Members. The understand the inside-outside strategy and how to leverage it to advance the progressive [...]
