Washington Report: Updates From the Capitol

More Than 400,000 Jobs Created in May

The nation’s unemployment rate, fell to 9.7% in May from 9.9% in April, due in part to the creation of 431,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. The government’s hiring of 411,000 temporary Census count workers fueled much of that boost.

African Americans had reason to cheer the latest report on news that the unemployment rate for blacks dropped one percentage point from 16.5% to 15.5%. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said she was pleased that the African American jobless rate had lowered, but couldn’t say unequivocally if it was because of the temporary Census jobs or a long-awaited move in the right direction of the economy.

“It’s hard to say because I don’t have all of that data, but I also was pleased to see it did tick down,” she said during a conference call, adding that black unemployment figures would improve even more once Congress passes a bill that would provide $1.2 billion for a summer youth employment program. The House passed its version of the measure before leaving for the Memorial Day recess; a Senate vote is expected to take place when lawmakers return to Washington on June 8. The bill also would extend unemployment benefits and COBRA.

Healthcare employment was little changed in May; however, over the prior 12 months, healthcare employment had increased by an average of 20,000 per month.  Manufacturing employment increased by 29,000 over the month and temporary help services added 31,000 jobs over the month.

Black Lawmakers Seek to Limit Reach of Ethics Office
Before slipping out of town for the Memorial Day recess, a group of 20 Congressional Black Caucus members, led by Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), very quietly introduced a resolution (H. R. 1416) to limit the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics. The measure would prohibit OCE from publicizing an ethics referral before there has been a finding of any violation and also would require a sworn complaint from a citizen claiming personal knowledge of an alleged wrongdoing.

It is unlikely that the bill will win much other support and may even ruffle some feathers.

But according to University of Maryland political scientist Ronald Walters, there is a perception that the panel has shown bias against the black lawmakers.

Five CBC members were recently investigated by the panel for violating House rules by participating in a junket to the Caribbean that was financed by corporate sponsors. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York) was the only one to receive admonishment. Citing the late Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, a close Pelosi ally, who was exonerated of what Walters described as “very egregious” charges, he said, “When the only members who are most vulnerable appear to be African American members, there’s something wrong with the process.”

The watchdog was created by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to reassure taxpayers that the Democratic-controlled Congress would take ethics violations seriously and provide greater transparency. Two black lawmakers, Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina) and Rep. Robert Scott (D-Virginia), sit on the independent, citizen-run panel. OCE doesn’t have the power to sanction lawmakers but acts as an advisory board to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

“The [OCE] was created to provide more transparency in the House of Representatives. It was a commendable goal. We

must now perfect its processes to ensure that those aims are achieved in a manner consistent with America’s spirit of justice. The processes must be fair to all people involved,” Fudge said in a statement issued this week by her office. She also accused the OCE of acting as “accuser, judge and jury.”

Skeptics may question both the wisdom and the temerity of introducing such a measure, and though Waters believes it has merit–he’s also pretty certain that it also won’t go anywhere.

White House Hosts Summit on Black Men and AIDS

The White House held a summit Wednesday on the dire impact that AIDS has had on African American men, and officials said incidences of the disease may even be on the rise.

According to CDC figures, black men bear the greatest burden of HIV infection and account for nearly two-thirds of all estimated HIV infections in the black community. Their HIV diagnosis rate in 2006 was the highest of any group–more than seven times that for white males and twice the rate for Hispanic males and black females. In fact, the number of people with HIV in some of the nation’s black communities is comparable to the rate highly impacted African countries.

Summit participants included policymakers, community and religious leaders, doctors and key members of the Obama administration. The event was part of a series of meetings the White House conducted in the past several months to explore different aspects of the HIV/AIDS issue. The administration will soon release its national HIV/AIDS strategy to decrease the incidence of the disease and improve care.

Click here to view the summit.

What Washington Will be Talking About Next Week

Not surprisingly, jobs will be one of the hottest topics as the House anticipates whether the Senate will follow its lead by voting on and pass a version of the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act. The bill includes $1.2 billion for youth summer employment, and extends unemployment benefits and small business loan programs

On June 10, the House Ways and Means Committee’s Income Security and Family Support panel will hold a hearing on policy solutions to address long-term employment.