May, 21 2021, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Cheston McGuire,Phone:,202-639-6453,Email:,cheston.mcguire,@afge.or,g
Largest Federal Employee Union Applauds Biden Push to Remove Fossil Fuel Securities from Retirement Funds
AFGE says Biden action is good for employees and the environment.
WASHINGTON
American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley today issued the following statement in support of an executive order issued by President Biden that calls for the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to review whether to remove fossil fuel securities from the Thrift Savings Plan as part of a larger assessment of the government's climate-related financial risks:
"Curbing investments in harmful fossil fuels is not only good for the environment and our planet--it's good for workers, too.
"According to Blackrock, the world's largest asset manager, removing fossil fuel securities from the Thrift Savings Plan will have no negative impact on the rate of return federal employees' get on their retirement savings. This change is an opportunity to take an important step toward addressing our climate emergency and saving our environment with no sacrifice in employees' retirement savings.
"That's why we support President Biden's call to mitigate the impact of federal agencies' financial activities on the environment. We also support the RESPOND Act, which would formally establish a process for reviewing and eradicating the financial risks of climate change in the TSP, and look forward to working with Congress on its passage."
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union proudly representing 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas. Workers in virtually all functions of government at every federal agency depend upon AFGE for legal representation, legislative advocacy, technical expertise and informational services.
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Sanders Rejects $10 Billion in Aid for 'Extremist Netanyahu Government'
"Israel's indiscriminate approach is, in my view, offensive to most Americans, it is in violation of U.S. and international law, and it undermines the prospects for lasting peace and security."
Dec 05, 2023
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday that he opposes sending billions of dollars in additional military assistance to the Israeli government as it continues to wage a catastrophic war on the Gaza Strip, an assault that the Vermont senator described as unlawful and "immoral."
"I do not believe we should be appropriating over $10 billion for the right-wing, extremist Netanyahu government to continue its current military approach," Sanders, who has faced backlash from progressives and some of his former campaign staffers for refusing to support a permanent cease-fire, said in remarks on the Senate floor.
Sanders' speech came as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) set the stage for a procedural vote on a $106 billion supplemental package that includes military assistance for Israel and Ukraine. The vote is
expected to fail as Republicans push for the inclusion of asylum restrictions that progressive Democrats have condemned as draconian.
The Vermont senator, for his part, decried the lack of attention to domestic emergencies in the bill, from childcare to primary healthcare to housing.
"I am deeply concerned that this legislation has no investments to address the needs of working families in the United States—60% of whom are living paycheck to paycheck," Sanders said, noting that the supplemental bill includes "tens of billions" in military spending that should be dedicated to "some of the enormous domestic crises we face."
Sanders went on to slam the proposed $10.1 billion in no-strings-attached military aid that would "allow the Netanyahu government to continue its current offensive military approach" in which the U.S. is complicit, having supplied the Israeli military with around 15,000 bombs and tens of thousands of artillery shells.
The senator said he would support "defense systems" to protect Israeli citizens from rocket attacks fired by the groups involved in the deadly October 7 attack. But "Israel's indiscriminate approach is, in my view, offensive to most Americans, it is in violation of U.S. and international law, and it undermines the prospects for lasting peace and security," said Sanders.
"Israel must dramatically change its approach to minimize civilian harm and lay out a wider political process that can secure lasting peace," he added.
That process, Sanders said, must include "a guarantee that displaced Palestinians will have the absolute right to return to their homes as Gaza rebuilds; it will include no long-term occupation or blockade of Gaza; an end to the killings of Palestinians in the West Bank and a freeze on new settlements there; and, perhaps most importantly, a commitment to broad peace talks to advance a new two-state solution in the wake of this war."
Sanders delivered his speech as Israel expanded its ground offensive to southern Gaza, threatening to worsen the territory's horrific humanitarian crisis by attacking the region to which many fled as Israel assailed the northern part of the strip. Around 80% of Gaza's population has been displaced in less than two months.
Doctors Without Borders
warned Monday that hospitals in the south are "at a breaking point" due to Israel's bombardment and ongoing siege, which have prevented the delivery of critical supplies including fuel and anesthetics.
In an open letter on Monday, Doctors Without Borders executive director Avril Benoît implored U.S. President Joe Biden to "call for an immediate and sustained cease-fire in Gaza," saying his group has rarely "encountered such a catastrophic combination of escalating humanitarian and medical needs, ravaged infrastructure, and intentionally limited humanitarian access."
"Our teams throughout Gaza recount scenes of horror in the hospitals: dead bodies everywhere, people with crushed limbs rescued from collapsed buildings, and orphaned children with severe burns covering most of their tiny bodies. They describe patients screaming in pain because there's not enough anesthesia," Benoît wrote. "And every day, they go to work for their patients."
"They can't go on like this," she added. "No one in Gaza can go on like this. We need a sustained cease-fire now."
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After Israel Trip, George Latimer Files to Primary Rep. Bowman
While Latimer has said Israel will be a "big issue" but "not the whole issue," one observer predicted that the contest "is going to be the ugliest Democratic proxy war of the 2024 cycle."
Dec 04, 2023
After visiting Israel last week, Westchester County Executive George Latimer on Monday filed paperwork to launch a primary challenge against Democratic New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman, a critic of the Israeli government and its devastating war on the Gaza Strip.
The 70-year-old county executive, who previously served in the New York State Senate and Assembly, has been openly considering a run for the 16th Congressional District—which Bowman has represented since 2021, after successfully primarying former Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel.
Latimer suggested toThe Washington Post early last month that if he ran against Bowman, "it might be that this becomes a proxy argument" between "the left and the far left." He later toldPolitico that Israel would be a "big issue" but "not the whole issue," and his campaign would focus on his record as "the most progressive" county official in the state.
Bowman is the fourth "Squad" member to face a serious primary challenger for 2024, joining Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). They are all among the eight progressives who in October voted against a bipartisan House resolution expressing unconditional support for Israel's government as it waged war on Gaza.
The four of them also support a resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. While the number of House members calling for a cease-fire has grown to more than four dozen as Israeli forces have killed thousands of Palestinians over the past two months, as The Intercepthighlighted last week, "a closer look at some lawmakers' statements raises questions about whether they are truly pushing for an end to the violence."
Latimer does not support a cease-fire. As Politico reported on his trip:
The county executive and former state lawmaker said that his time with Israelis, such as meeting with President Isaac Herzog, taught him that there is "no animosity directed toward the Palestinian people."
"There's people that are protesting that they're pro-Palestine, as if the Israeli position is anti-Palestinian," he said in an interview while waiting to board his return flight at Ben Gurion Airport.
"There wasn't a 'let's go get those bastards' kind of mindset," he said. "The anger and fear is directed at Hamas as the terrorist organization that runs the country and that's a differentiation you don't often pick up."
Since declaring war in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack on October 7, Israel has killed nearly 15,900 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded another 42,000 in airstrikes and raids, according to health officials in the besieged enclave. At least hundreds of those killings have come after the seven-day pause in fighting that ended late last week.
Responding to Latimer's filing on Monday, Slate's Alex Sammon said, "There it is: after weeks of unnecessary hemming and hawing (during which he stockpiled an extra helping of cash from the Israel lobby), George Latimer is challenging Jamaal Bowman, aiming to [replace] one of the party's rising stars as a 70-year-old white freshman congressman."
It was Sammon who reported in mid-November that the lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is set to "spend at least $100 million in 2024 Democratic primaries, largely trained on eliminating incumbent Squad members" including Bowman, Bush, Omar, Lee, and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who had a U.S. Senate candidate reject an offer of $20 million if he instead primaried her, the only Palestinian American in Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez's 2024 campaign said in a Monday email that "AIPAC's top recruit to challenge Jamaal Bowman officially filed his candidacy" and asked supporters to "please chip in right now to help us defend Jamaal and our progressive values."
Along with stressing his support for a cease-fire in Gaza, her campaign pointed out that Bowman is "his district's first Black representative" and "one of the only members of Congress with actual experience working in public education."
Westchester's News 12reported Monday that while Latimer "is preparing a video announcement over the next 24 hours and will formally launch his campaign by Wednesday," he is not Bowman's only challenger—Democratic "Dobbs Ferry investment banker Martin Dolan also plans to run."
While the contest is considered a test of whether politicians can survive criticizing Israel, some observers noted Monday that in March 2021, as many elected officials—including Bowman and Ocasio-Cortez—called on then-Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign over outrage about his Covid-19 pandemic response and sexual misconduct allegations, Latimer said the claims should be taken seriously but also drew a comparison to Emmett Till, which he later retracted.
Who wins the next primary for New York's solidly Democratic 16th District could depend on an effort to replace the GOP-friendly map drawn by a court-appointed expert for the 2022 election cycle. City & Statereported last month that a new order could mean "the Independent Redistricting Commission—which is led by Latimer's deputy, Ken Jenkins—will have the opportunity to change the boundaries."
"The district currently includes much of Westchester and a sliver of the northern Bronx and is home to many Jewish voters who have turned against Bowman," the outlet explained. "Should the district lines change, it will change the dynamics of the race."
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House Progressives Vow to Oppose Spending Bill With Anti-Migrant Policies
"Progressives reject Republicans' cynical attempt to imperil the lives of people seeking safety to pass this supplemental funding bill," said leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Dec 04, 2023
The U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus said Monday that most of its 103 members would oppose an emergency spending package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan that empowers the Republican House majority to undermine protections for asylum-seekers, reinstate Trump-era travel bans, and implement other anti-immigrant policies.
"As Congress returns this week to consider the president's emergency supplemental funding request for international aid and increased border funding, Republicans are still trying to force their anti-immigrant policies into the legislation," CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Deputy Chair Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Whip Greg Casar (D-Texas) said in a statement. "Progressives are clear: We will not play this game."
President Joe Biden requested the $106 billion "national security" spending package in October after Israel launched its retaliatory—and many experts say genocidal—war against Gaza and amid a battlefield stalemate in Russia's 20-month invasion of Ukraine.
Among Biden's asks are $61.4 billion more for Ukraine—which has already received $111 billion from Washington—and $14.3 billion for Israel, which already gets nearly $4 billion each year.
Politico congressional reporter Burgess Everett reported Monday that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has moved for a Wednesday vote on the package, even though he knows it is likely to fail.
"His hope: That the prospect of defeat is enough to make both sides get serious about a deal," Everett wrote.
Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday that "the step I am taking tonight will ensure the process for the supplemental moves forward, and that hopefully disagreements on immigration do not prevent us from doing what we must do to protect America's security."
Republicans in both chambers of Congress are pushing to condition any additional U.S. aid to Ukraine upon what GOP lawmakers call "border security" measures meant to stop migrants including people legally seeking asylum from entering the United States.
As Common Dreams reported Friday, Senate Republicans, backed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), are working to include provisions of the Secure the Border Act—which calls for hiring more U.S. Border Patrol agents, continuing construction of the border wall, and other policies—as part of the broader funding package. GOP lawmakers also want to strip $14.3 billion in funding from the Internal Revenue Service as part of the deal.
"House Republicans are trying the same strategy that continues to fail: Hold Congress hostage to force their cruel, extreme, and unworkable agenda because they can't pass it through the regular legislative process," the CPC leaders said Monday. "This is the strategy that brought us to the brink of economic default and two government shutdowns. Proposed policies would destroy our U.S. asylum system and endanger immigrant lives while making the situation at the border worse, not better."
The lawmakers continued:
Progressives have fought for decades in Congress to advance a comprehensive immigration policy that would uphold U.S. and international law, respect the humanity and dignity of those seeking refuge in this country, and strengthen the U.S. economy. We have passed commonsense legislation with bipartisan majorities. Our members are prepared to work with any colleague who wants to advance thoughtful, holistic, and relevant reforms to create a roadmap to citizenship, increase the efficiency of our asylum system, and more—but this extortion is not going to work.
"Progressives reject Republicans' cynical attempt to imperil the lives of people seeking safety to pass this supplemental funding bill," the trio added. "We call on our Senate Democratic colleagues to stand up for immigrants and the allied communities who sent us to Congress and show Republican extremism for what it is by moving forward an aid package without new anti-immigrant policies."
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