Washington Report: Updates from Capitol Hill

House Passes Bill to Fund 200,000 Summer Youth Jobs

With the passage of the $5.7 billion supplemental appropriations bill (HR 4899) on Wednesday, members of the Congressional Black Caucus are hopeful that black youths will be able to take advantage of the $600 million in Labor Department grants to states to fund summer youth job programs.

Congressional Black Caucus members have for months stressed the urgency of funding such programs for teenagers and young adults aged 16 to 19  whose unemployment rate at around 25% in February. The rate for young African Americans is almost double, and black lawmakers fear that without something productive to do during the summer, many will find themselves in trouble.

“African American youth unemployment rates are now estimated to be as high as 42%,” said CBC chairwoman Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California). “So we need targeted assistance to help put our young people to work and to teach them an array of valuable job skills that they can use throughout life.”

Developing summer youth programs was one of the issues President Barack Obama and the CBC agreed was doable when they met earlier this month. In a statement released by the White House on Thursday, Obama applauded the effort and encouraged the Senate to follow suit.

“As we continue the work of rebuilding our economy and encouraging job creation, investing in summer youth employment is an important way to teach our young people the value of hard work and prepare them for careers in the future,” Obama said.

Last year, the government spent $1.2 billion to fund work opportunities for more than 300,000 young people, 10,000 of whom were offered work beyond the summer, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said during a conference call with reporters. According to White House figures, more than 40% of the 2009 summer youth program participants were black.

Lee said that the bill, which will create 200,000 jobs, is merely a “down payment” and that Congress is considering various bills and seeking ways to create and fund additional measures. The measure also appropriates $5.1 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and $20 million to continue covering the cost of waiving fees for some SBA loan programs.

The summer youth program will be paid for with unused funds from other programs, which she hopes will be an incentive for the Senate to act swiftly when it considers the bill.

CBC Members Threatened for Healthcare Vote

Passing healthcare reform has been a bittersweet victory for Congressional

Democrats. On one hand, they’ve helped President Barack Obama honor a campaign promise that’s both historic and the centerpiece of his legislative agenda. But it has come at a significant cost, with lawmakers reporting this week several incidences of threats against their offices, their families, and themselves.

One rancorous message sent to Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia) said, “None of your colored constituents are going to keep you elected because we do not want this socialist Obamacare that is going to help Negroes who will not help themselves,” he reported. Another referred to him as nigger three times.

On Wednesday, the FBI notified Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri) that it had “collected” and investigated a call made by a local white businessman threatening to kill him if he voted for the healthcare bill. It concluded the man didn’t intend to carry out the threat.

In addition, Cleaver said, his Tea Party opponent has sent e-mails to protestors encouraging them to show up at his town hall meeting on Saturday. In response, the security team Cleaver had when Kansas City mayor will be at his side, as well as undercover police and an FBI detail.

While Democratic and Republican leadership sparred over who was to blame for the breakdown in civility inside and outside the House, black lawmakers expressed concern over the racial tone some protestors have taking, recalling for them the violence they experienced during their fight for civil rights.

“What I saw over the weekend was a different class of folk who basically used code words that I hadn’t heard in a long time, such as ‘I want my country back.’ I saw Hispanic lawmakers being told to go back where they came from,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) recalled. “Clearly there’s this racial undertone and GOP leadership has done a very poor job reigning them in. [Tea Party members] are some of their core constituents and they’re not going to alienate them just because Democrats feel threatened.”

Deadline Looms for Black Farmers Settlement

When Congress goes on its two-week recess next week, it might do so without having appropriated the funds needed to pay the $1.15 billion settlement with black farmers for past acts of discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For farmers, that delay means “missing another planting season, more black farmers going out of business, more black farmers dying waiting for justice,” said National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd Jr.

During a Wednesday press conference Sen. Kay Hagan (D-North Carolina), House

Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (Michigan) and Rep. Robert Scott (D-Virginia) urged the administration to act more forcefully to bring the settlement to a conclusion. During the press conference Conyers called Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s office to arrange a meeting that he insisted take place that evening.

Conyers said Thursday that the meeting, at which Scott, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Connecticut), and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (North Carolina) were present, went well and Vilsack is committed to settling the matter, “but that doesn’t get us the money.” He added that he and other lawmakers would meet with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Maryland) to figure out how to satisfy the judgment.

“The USDA is actively working with Congress to find the resources needed to fulfill the Pigford settlement agreement,” said a USDA spokesman. “In recent weeks, Secretary Vilsack has made personal phone calls and sent a letter in support of the President’s budget amendment, and he has urged Congress to appropriate the resources to resolve this important matter.

Lawmakers have yet to figure out where the funds to pay the farmers will come from. Conyers, Scott and other lawmakers have suggested that the judgment be considered an emergency to bypass paygo rules.