February, 17 2010, 08:32am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Christy Setzer 202-730-7349
SEIU's Burger: Recovery Act Stopped the Bleeding; Now We Need to Invest in Local Communities
SEIU Releases Report Showing How Recovery Act Investments in Human Services Created and Saved Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs
WASHINGTON
Marking
the first anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released a
statement from Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger praising the bill for
creating and saving hundreds of thousands of jobs, and calling on
Congress to continue needed state fiscal relief.
"When our economy dove
into a crisis of epic proportions last year, Congress moved quickly to
stop the hemorrhaging-and to solve the problems that got us here in the
first place," said Burger.
"The hundreds of
thousands of Americans who are now employed as a direct result of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act can thank Speaker Pelosi and
Majority Leader Reid for their leadership and courage. Pelosi and Reid
championed the legislation that stopped the bleeding in a devastating
recession, provided critical fiscal relief to our states, and put
people back to work. Without their quick action, our economy could've
been in crisis for years or even decades to come," continued Burger.
Taking
into account all ARRA spending through 2009, the Recovery Act has
created or saved nearly 2.1 million jobs through the fourth quarter of
2009. To
commemorate the anniversary of the legislation, SEIU released a report
touting its success. The report, which can be viewed at https://seiu.me/arra, notes that the
Recovery Act helped counter the recession by protecting human services
and the workers employed to deliver those services at a local level.
For
people like Akbar Chatman, a substance abuse counselor for the
Department of Mental Health in Los Angeles County, the Recovery Act
played a critical role in helping him do his job. LA County deals with
the substance abuse troubles of a significant homeless population. With
the $111 million in Recovery Act funding that the county received,
counselors like Chatman were able to provide better care for his
patients. "Thank you to President Obama and everyone who voted for
this," Chatman said. [Watch Chatman discuss the Recovery Act at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW7b05HYSD0.]
"Unfortunately,
while Democratic leadership did the hard work to stop the bleeding of
our economic crisis, Republican leadership repeatedly chose to put
partisanship ahead of the needs of the country - both last year, in
voting against the Recovery Act, and again this year as we attempt to
pass a more broad jobs agenda," continued Burger.
"State fiscal relief from
the Recovery Act played a critical role in saving jobs and preserving
critical human services-like those Akbar Chatman provides-- to get our
economy back on track, but too many Americans are still hurting. The
House passed a broad jobs bill with increased funding for state fiscal
relief; as the Senate takes up their own jobs agenda, they would do
well to follow the House's lead," concluded Burger.
The
state fiscal relief provisions in the Recovery Act helped limit cuts in
human services proposed to respond to deep budget gaps in FY2010.
Without additional fiscal relief, new budget gaps could force state
governments to shed 900,000 jobs this year.
Read more about how the Recovery Act helped save and create jobs at www.seiu.org/economicrecovery.
With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy.
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Amnesty International on Thursday called for a war crimes investigation into recent Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that killed dozens of civilians, as well as a suspension of arms transfers to Israel as it attacks Gaza, the West Bank, and Syria.
In a briefing paper titled The Sky Rained Missiles, Amnesty "documented four illustrative cases in which unlawful Israeli strikes killed at least 49 civilians" in Lebanon in September and October amid an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign of invasion and bombardment that Lebanese officials say has killed or wounded more than 20,000 people.
"Amnesty International found that Israeli forces unlawfully struck residential buildings in the village of al-Ain in northern Bekaa on September 29, the village of Aitou in northern Lebanon on October 14, and in Baalbeck city on October 21," the rights group said. "Israeli forces also unlawfully attacked the municipal headquarters in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on October 16."
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The September 29 attack "destroyed the house of the Syrian al-Shaar family, killing all nine members of the family who were sleeping inside," the report states.
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As the report notes:
A fragment of the munition found at the site of the attack was analyzed by an Amnesty International weapons expert and based upon its size, shape, and the scalloped edges of the heavy metal casing, identified as most likely a MK-80 series aerial bomb, which would mean it was at least a 500-pound bomb. The United States is the primary supplier of these types of munitions to Israel.
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