By AFL-CIO President John Sweeney

America’s workers need a real raise, not a vote on sham legislation that will not provide our nation’s workers with the relief they so desperately need.  As the House of Representatives considers legislation that would raise the federal minimum wage for the first time in 10 years, it’s absolutely critical that members vote to increase the minimum wage by $2.10 – from $5.15 to $7.25 – without “poison pills� and parliamentary maneuvers designed to prevent a $2.10 increase from becoming law.

A majority of the Senate – 53 senators – now supports a $2.10 increase in the minimum wage without any extra provisions.  Recently 260 members of the House also showed their support for a “cleanâ€? $2.10 increase.  There is no good reason for preventing a House vote on a straightforward $2.10 increase in the minimum wage, which could then easily become law. Read the rest of this entry »

It makes me sick in the stomach to see once again innocent civilizans suffering and to see infrastructure destroyed that had been rebuilt to make Beirut the jewel of the Middle East, now blown to smithereens.

I led a Congressional delegaiton to Beirut 24 years ago when it was last bombed back into the Stone Age. At that time, Ronald Reagan got on the phone with Menachem Begin and said, enough is enough. And the bombing stopped.

I’ve been hoping for the same kind of leadership from this President.

The word “vouchers� is toxic, and everyone on the Hill knows it. That’s why Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and some lawmakers have introduced new legislation calling for “opportunity scholarships.� It’s the same tired voucher scheme with new packaging. At the end of the day, vouchers diminish the right of every student to obtain a quality education. They drain resources from programs that put qualified teachers in classrooms, reduce class size, and sustain good teaching and learning.

And here’s the irony: supporters of this bill talk about “accountability� and “choice,� but the legislation funnels taxpayer money to unaccountable private schools. Federally mandated tests, “highly qualified� teacher standards, and Adequate Yearly Progress don’t apply to private schools. And private schools can deny admission to anyone they choose, so the choice resides with the private school, not with parents.

Instead of luring students into unaccountable private schools, Congress should give public schools the resources they need to get the job done. Public tax dollars should be directed toward making every public school great, not making private schools profitable.
NEA on Vouchers: http://www.nea.org/vouchers

I believe it is wrong for this Congress to allow citizens in the wealthiest nation in the world to work a full-time job and still live in poverty. Millions of working men and women, and their families, can ill-afford to wait for Washington partisan politics. It is far past time that Congress raise the minimum wage $2.10, from $5.15 to $7.25.

For me, this is not just a fiscal issue it is a moral issue. Since 1997 — the last time Congress passed an increase in the minimum wage — the price of gas has gone up, the price of food has gone up, rent has gone up, mortgage costs have gone up, the cost of college has gone up, the only thing that has not gone up is the minimum wage.

The reality is the minimum wage today is at lowest point in over 50 years.

The Commerce Department reported today that the economy rose at an annual rate of just 2.5 percent in the second quarter, less than half the robust pace of the first quarter. Does this foreshadow a softening economy going forward? Well, sort of.
Recent data on housing and consumer spending show that these components of the economy are sluggish, from high energy prices as well as rising interest rates. However, recent data on trade and new orders for capital goods suggest that business investment and exports are still humming along.

Look for economic growth to accelerate to above 3 percent growth in the third quarter, with more growth coming from investment and trade and less from consumption and housing.

John Bolton is still the wrong man, for the wrong job, at the wrong time.  His record over the past year has shown that the Senate was right to not confirm him last time around.  The world is literally blowing up around us.  We need someone who can advance America’s interests and get results.  And whether it’s North Korea, the Middle East or Darfur, John Bolton isn’t getting the job done.

If President Bush were determined about installing at the UN a proven Republican who could work the art of diplomacy at this critical time, he need look no further than his own father - President Bush “41″ - who would be - as he was in those days after the tsunami - the right man, for the right job, at the right time.

We have worked behind the scenes to get a bipartisan bill. I think we’ll get it through the committee without too much trouble.

If I were Al Quaeda and I were looking for a sector that would provide vulnerability, it would be chemical facilities.

We need to balance security without overburdening industry so that the terorrists don’t win indirectly.

I’m glad Japan has made a science-based decision to reopen its market to imports of beef from cattle aged 20 months or younger.  Millions of Americans consume beef everyday.  We know this product is safe.  Japanese consumers will once again be able to enjoy U.S. beef.  Our trade representative and agriculture secretary worked hard to help make this happen.  I also encourage scientists from the United States and Japan to continue working together to resolve differences that prevent beef from the United States that’s over 20 months from being shipped to Japan.  In the end, I hope today’s news is a major first step toward the full resumption of beef trade with Japan.

With the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, African-Americans were finally promised the right to vote after centuries of disenfranchisement. The era of the literacy test, the grandfather clause, and the outright exclusion of black Americans from the political process had come to a close, at least officially.

The Voting Rights Act remains some of the most important legislation ever passed by the United States Congress, and I was pleased to see it handily reauthorized last week. I was equally pleased to see that an amendment proposed by Georgia Rep. Charlie Norwood (R), which would have significantly weakened the act, was rejected 318-96.

I was disappointed, though, to see that my opponent for the Democratic nomination here in the Georgia Fourth, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, was one of very few Members of Congress who didn’t even show for the vote on the amendment. An act of such negligence strikes me not only as unethical but also as incompetent. Read the rest of this entry »

I have always said that the ban on U.S. beef was unfounded and inconsistent and that we needed to pressure Japan to reopen its market to American beef. Last month Senator Pat Roberts joined me in introducing bipartisan legislation designed to pressure Japan to lift its ban.  Our bill would have required the Treasury Secretary to impose tariffs on Japanese products unless Japan re-opened its market to U.S.-produced beef by August 31.

We vowed to keep up the pressure until American ranchers had access to Japan’s market again. The pressure we applied has paid off. America’s beef is among the safest in the world, a fact that has again been reinforced today by Japan’s announcement.  This is a victory for our beef producers, and it shows that the United States can win trade disputes if we’re willing to fight.