May, 19 2022, 08:34am EDT
Sunrise NYC Urges Mondaire Jones to Run in NY-17
In Light of Newly Released Drafted Congressional District Maps, Sunrise NYC Encourages Climate Champion Mondaire Jones to Run in the New NY-17
WASHINGTON
The New York Chapter of the Sunrise Movement urges Congressman Mondaire Jones to seek reelection in the newly redrawn Seventeenth Congressional District.
"Jones, a 2020 Sunrise Movement endorsee, has been a tireless advocate for a renewable transition and environmental justice in his first term. He is leading colleagues in holding the Defense Department accountable for pollution emissions and advocating for a transition to high-speed and light rail powered by renewable energy, including a one-ride train from Rockland County into New York City.
"We are disappointed that DCCC Chair Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney appears to have chosen to primary a climate champion like Congressman Jones and potentially sacrifice the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives in the process. We strongly urge Congressman Maloney to reconsider his decision.
"Jones is a proud cosponsor of the Green New Deal Resolution, the Green New Deal for Public Schools, the Green New Deal for Cities, the Green New Deal for Public Housing, and the End Polluter Welfare Act. Conversely, Maloney only cosponsors the Resolution. Jones was also an opponent of the Danskammer Power Plant proposal that would have polluted the air and water of Hudson Valley residents. Maloney never found the courage to stand up for environmental justice in his own district.
"Jones currently represents approximately three-quarters of the new 17th district, which includes his hometown of Spring Valley, while Maloney only represents a quarter of it. This district has a strong foundation of progressive politics--including climate champions like former Peekskill City Council member and Sunrise NYC endorsed State Assembly candidate Vanessa Agudelo--and its voters benefit greatly by being represented in Congress by a climate leader such as Jones.
"Congressman Maloney must take his responsibility as the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee seriously. Instead of seeking personal political advantage, he should fight to keep NY-18 in Democratic control this year.
"We cannot pass meaningful climate legislation with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives; progressive coalitions must organize to keep NY-18 blue and retain incumbent climate champions in NY-16 and NY-17. Sunrise NYC feels that Congressman Jones is the best possible candidate to advance the fight for crucial climate legislation in the 118th Congress on behalf of his community in the newly-created NY-17."
Sunrise NYC is one of the largest hubs of the Sunrise Movement in the United States. Its thousands of members fight for passing meaningful climate legislation and electing Green New Deal champions, in addition to advocating for equity and justice in every aspect of public policy.
Sunrise Movement is a movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans and pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes, a move the White House described as "the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
But the president's sweeping use of his clemency power as his term nears its conclusion did not appear to extend to any of the 40 men currently on death row—some of whom have been there for decades.
According to a White House fact sheet, those who received commutations "have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the Covid-era CARES Act," a law that extended the amount of time in which people could be placed in home confinement to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons.
The White House did not name those who received pardons or commutations but said the list includes a "decorated military veteran," a "nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters," and "an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose."
The Biden Justice Department paused federal executions in 2021, but President-elect Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to expand the use of the death penalty and is expected to allow the executions of the 40 men on death row to take place if they're still there when he takes office next month.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden said that he has "the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses."
"That is why, today, I am pardoning 39 people who have shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer," the president said. "I am also commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are serving long prison sentences—many of whom would receive lower sentences if charged under today’s laws, policies, and practices. These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the Covid pandemic, have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance."
Biden, who campaigned on ending the death penalty at the federal level, vowed to "take more steps in the weeks ahead" as his administration reviews clemency petitions, leaving open the possibility of commutations for death row prisoners.
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Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, "Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home."
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Several of the 124 House Democrats who voted against the NDAA cited those "culture war" policies, in addition to concerns about how the Pentagon spends massive amounts of money that could go toward improving lives across the country.
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Taking aim at the GOP's push to deny gender-affirming care through TRICARE, the congresswoman said that "I cannot support a bill that continues unnecessary military spending while also attacking the rights and healthcare of transgender youth, and for that reason, I voted NO."
As Omar, a leading critic of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, also pointed out: "The NDAA includes a provision that blocks the Pentagon from using data on casualties and deaths from the Gaza Ministry of Health or any sources relying on those statistics. This is an alarming erasure of the suffering of the Palestinian people, ignoring the human toll of ongoing violence."
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Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), who voted against the NDAA, directed attention to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), set to be run by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
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