OUR CRUCIAL SPRING CAMPAIGN IS NOW UNDERWAY
Please donate now to keep the mission and independent journalism of Common Dreams strong.
For Immediate Release
January, 25 2017, 09:30am EDT
Contact:
Email:,press@civilrights.org,Phone: (202) 869-0398
Civil and Human Rights Coalition Responds to White House's Baseless Voting Claim
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to the made-up claim from the White House that millions of illegal votes were cast in the past election. Invented claims like these are usually used to undermine the advancement and enforcement of voting rights laws:
"The White House is bashing immigrants, undermining voting rights, and playing to bigotry all at once.
WASHINGTON
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to the made-up claim from the White House that millions of illegal votes were cast in the past election. Invented claims like these are usually used to undermine the advancement and enforcement of voting rights laws:
"The White House is bashing immigrants, undermining voting rights, and playing to bigotry all at once.
Senator Jeff Sessions once made up fraud charges to wrongly prosecute voting rights activists, and the White House appears to be using the same anti-civil rights playbook. Peddling these lies just drives this administration farther from reality and from the people it claims to govern.
Only a day after the White House promised to try to get things right, this conspiracy theory raises serious doubts about whether our new President can be trusted on anything."
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. Through advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies, The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society - an America as good as its ideals.
(202) 466-3311LATEST NEWS
Fresh Nuclear Safety Concerns After Dam Disaster Downriver From Zaporizhzhia Plant
While the IAEA said it doesn't see an "immediate risk" to the nuclear plant's safety, the agency warned that a lack of cooling water "would cause fuel melt and inoperability of the emergency diesel generators."
Jun 06, 2023
Already heightened concerns about the operational safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine intensified further on Tuesday after a major downriver dam was destroyed, forcing thousands to evacuate as water surged through the breached structure.
The wrecked barrier held back a body of water equal in size to Utah's Great Salt Lake, and the reservoir supplies water for the cooling of the Zaporizhzhia facility, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The reservoir also serves as a key source of drinking water.
Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for the dam's destruction, which would constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Reutersnoted that "neither side offered immediate public evidence" to substantiate their accusations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has been monitoring the Zaporizhzhia plant for months and vocally warning about ongoing threats to its integrity, said Tuesday it was closely examining the fallout from the dam breach but there was "no immediate risk to the safety of the plant."
But Rafael Mariano Grossi, the IAEA's director-general, stressed Tuesday that an "absence of cooling water in the essential cooling water systems for an extended period of time would cause fuel melt and inoperability of the emergency diesel generators" at Zaporizhzhia, which is currently controlled by Russian forces.
The plant is roughly 90 miles upriver from the breached dam.
"The main line of cooling water is fed from the reservoir and pumped up through channels near the thermal power plant to the site," said Grossi. "It is estimated that the water through this route should last for a few days. Water in the reservoir was at around 16.4 meters at 8:00 am. If it drops below 12.7 meters, then it can no longer be pumped."
Grossi noted that "there are a number of alternative sources of water," including a "large cooling pond next to the site that by design is kept above the height of the reservoir."
"It is therefore vital that this cooling pond remains intact. Nothing must be done to potentially undermine its integrity," he added. "I call on all sides to ensure nothing is done to undermine that. My trip to ZNPP next week was planned and now it is essential. I will go."
\u201cThe Kakhovka Dam appears to be gone. This is going to have far-reaching consequences for weeks and months to come. \n\nHere are some very early thoughts. (video via Ukrhydroenergo Telegram)\ud83e\uddf5\u201d— Geoff Brumfiel (@Geoff Brumfiel) 1686030656
The Associated Pressreported Tuesday that "the potentially far-reaching environmental and social consequences of the disaster quickly became clear as homes, streets, and businesses flooded downstream and emergency crews began evacuations."
James Elder, a UNICEF spokesperson, said in a statement that the impacts of the dam's destruction will be acutely felt by children, many of whom will be left homeless and without reliable access to clean drinking water.
"This is yet another merciless attack on infrastructure that is vital to the well-being of everyday Ukrainians," said Elder.
Outside experts and critics of nuclear power have been warning for more than a year that the longer the war drags on, the greater the threat of a catastrophe at Zaporizhzhia, which has already been significantly damaged by shelling.
In a March 2022 report, Greenpeace wrote that "in the event of a loss of cooling and resultant fire in any of the spent fuel pools at Zaporizhzhia, the potential for a very large release of radioactivity would have a devastating effect not only on Ukraine but also its neighboring countries, including Russia, and potentially, depending on the weather conditions and wind directions, on a large part of Europe."
Ukrainian and Russian officials traded blame for the disastrous dam breach.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted Tuesday that Russia "blew it up," an alleged attack that he called a "bomb of mass environmental destruction."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, said during a news briefing that "we can state unequivocally that we are talking about deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side."
Meanwhile, according toReuters, "some Russian-installed officials said the dam had burst on its own."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'He Should Put His Money Where His Mouth Is,' Pocan Says as McCarthy Chides Pentagon Waste
"Bring our 'Audit the Pentagon' bill to the floor," said Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan.
Jun 06, 2023
The Democratic co-chair of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus challenged House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to act on his words after the Republican leader conceded Monday that there is wasteful spending at the Pentagon, which has never passed an independent audit.
"We need to get the efficiencies in the Pentagon," McCarthy toldCNN, criticizing GOP senators for seeking out ways to expand the military budget beyond the level set in the newly passed debt ceiling agreement.
"Think about it, $886 billion. You don't think there's waste? They failed the last five audits," said McCarthy. "I consider myself a hawk, but I don't want to waste money. So I think we've got to find efficiencies."
The $886 billion figure McCarthy referenced is the military spending topline for fiscal year 2024 that House Republican leaders and the Biden administration agreed to as part of their deal to raise the debt limit.
That spending level, which still must be finalized in the appropriations process, is right in line with President Joe Biden's budget request, which calls for a $28 billion increase over the current military budget of $858 billion.
McCarthy voted for that budget late last year even as critics condemned it as outrageously wasteful.
In response to McCarthy's CNN interview, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.)—who has been demanding cuts to Pentagon spending for years—tweeted that the Republican leader should finally "put his money where his mouth is and bring our 'Audit the Pentagon' bill to the floor."
"There is plenty of waste and fraud at the Pentagon," wrote Pocan, who co-chairs the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus alongside Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
\u201c.@SpeakerMcCarthy is right! There is plenty of waste and fraud at the Pentagon. He should put his money where his mouth is and bring our #AuditThePentagon bill to the floor. https://t.co/1Z4O1yiGmC\u201d— Rep. Mark Pocan (@Rep. Mark Pocan) 1686002123
The bipartisan Audit the Pentagon Act of 2023 would "administer a 0.5% cut to the budget of any office at the Pentagon that does not receive an audit for the first year of the bill's enactment," according to a summary of the legislation. That penalty would rise to 1% in subsequent years, exempting "funding for personnel, families, and military healthcare" from automatic cuts.
Of the bill's 19 co-sponsors, eight are Republicans—though McCarthy is not one of them.
The speaker's remarks Monday came as war hawks in the Senate Republican caucus continued to express dismay over the military spending level set in the debt limit deal, even though it would bring the Pentagon budget to a record high while cutting spending on education, housing programs, and other critical services.
Under the agreement, which drew applause from the CEO of one of the world's leading weapons manufacturers, military outlays would account for nearly 56% of total discretionary spending. But that's apparently not enough for Senate Republicans.
"We're playing a dangerous game with our national security," claimed Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). "The bill [McCarthy] produced is inadequate to the threats we face. If the Republican speaker takes the position that we're going to be tough on China... I don't see how we do that with a declining Navy."
Graham and other Republican senators—along with Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.)—are "looking for creative ways to increase the Pentagon budget" beyond the $886 billion topline, Politicoreported last week.
"The most likely vehicle is the next emergency supplemental for Ukraine, which they hope to cram with cash for other Pentagon priorities that normally wouldn't be in the measure," according to Politico. "But doing so could also mean a partisan clash if Democrats oppose reopening the deal through a supplemental without some relief for domestic spending priorities."
The looming fight over Pentagon spending comes months after the Congressional Budget Office issued a report concluding that "the Department of Defense can't accurately account for or report on its physical assets or spending." The department has previously worked to cover up evidence of its massive waste, which is often a boon to arms makers.
Last month, a former top contract negotiator at the Pentagon toldCBS News that "the gouging that takes place" at the Defense Department "is unconscionable," with private companies dramatically overcharging the government for military equipment and other items.
Those comments led a group of senators, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), to demand a Pentagon investigation into price gouging by top government contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon.
"The DOD can no longer expect Congress or the American taxpayer to underwrite record military spending while simultaneously failing to account for the hundreds of billions it hands out every year to spectacularly profitable private corporations," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Pentagon chief.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Progressive Groups Sue Mississippi Over 'Unconstitutional' Anti-Protest Law
"We should not have to risk arrest and imprisonment for exercising our constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and equal protection under the law," asserted one of the plaintiffs.
Jun 05, 2023
Progressive advocacy groups are suing Mississippi officials over a new state law requiring permission to hold public protests near state government buildings in the capital city of Jackson.
A lawsuit filed last week by JXN Undivided Coalition, Mississippi Votes, Mississippi Poor People's Campaign, Black Voters Matter, and a trio of activists challenges S.B. 2343, which is set to take effect on July 1. The legislation required prior approval from Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell or Capitol Police Chief Bo Luckey for public demonstrations on the grounds of or near state government buildings including the Capitol Complex, Governor's Mansion, state Supreme Court, and other edifices.
"The JXN Undivided Coalition and its members have for years engaged in the deeply American tradition of peacefully gathering on public property to convey to elected officials what matters most to us," the group said in a statement on Monday. "What matters most to us is the right to vote and the right of political self-determination for Jackson residents."
"We have spoken, and the state has responded with a sweeping prohibition of speech next to properties in Jackson occupied by state officials absent prior authorization," JXN Undivided Coalition added. "We should not have to risk arrest and imprisonment for exercising our constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and equal protection under the law."
\u201c.@JxnUndivided files lawsuit to stop new law requiring the Public Safety Commissioner or Capitol Police Chief\u2019s permission to protest or gather in Jackson anywhere near buildings occupied by a state employee \u2014 aka damn near all of non-residential Jackson. https://t.co/ISwW2dakw1\u201d— Blake Feldman (@Blake Feldman) 1685977958
According to the suit:
This year, Mississippi made peaceful protests on public sidewalks and streets next to state government buildings in Jackson without written prior permission from one of two state officials. The new law... is an unconstitutional prior restraint that does not further a constitutionally sufficient or permissible purpose. Those who peacefully protest without state government authorization and who are charged with crimes for doing so may be prosecuted and sentenced to prison. This chills protected speech.
As the Associated Pressreported Monday:
Critics say the majority-white and Republican-controlled Legislature passed the laws to take away local autonomy in Jackson and surrounding Hinds County, which are both majority-Black and governed by Democrats. Supporters of the laws say they are trying to control violent crime.
Several protests have been held near state government buildings in downtown Jackson during the past year, including some in January, February, and March against the legislation dealing with courts and policing. The Poor People's Campaign held events on a street outside the Governor's Mansion last fall to protest what organizers said was the state’s inadequate investment in Jackson's struggling water system.
In recent years, numerous states have passed laws criminalizing or restricting protest activity and protecting motorists who kill or injure protesters under certain circumstances.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular
SUPPORT INDEPENDENT
JOURNALISM TODAY
JOURNALISM TODAY
We Can't Do It
Without You!
Without You!