Rep. Barbara Lee holds State of District
meeting in Oakland
From the Globe Political Desk
Hundreds filled the auditorium at the downtown Oakland federal building recently to hear Congresswoman Barbara Lee deliver her second annual “State of the District” address.
Lee said she is supporting a move to cut $60 billion from “cold war weapons systems” to fund health care and other needed social programs as part of a “common sense budget” and an alternative to the White House budget.
Before the public session she met privately with local media representatives, including The Globe.
Lee said her biggest frustration during her most recent Congressional term has been witnessing “the abuse of power” by Republicans and President Bush, who has “made the world less safe.”
However, Lee said she is encouraged by the growing number of anti-war rallies outside of urban areas, such as recent protests in Walnut Creek and Vallejo.
“There was also a protest against new immigration laws in Phoenix,” she said. “The nation is shifting.”
Lee said national media ignored her successful effort to place an amendment that called for no permanent military bases in Iraq on a recent war spending bill in the House. Now, she hopes the amendment will pass in the Senate.
Lee speculated that the public is growing increasingly frustrated because “poverty rates are up 17 percent since President Bush took office, and massive tax cuts for the rich and the cost of the war in Iraq have taken away revenues for social programs.”
Lee said she is pushing bills that would fight to end poverty and roll back tax cuts for the rich. “The cost of the tax cuts is greater than what we pay for education and veteran affairs,” she said. “The administration’s rollback of Pell Grants for college students, [along with] cuts in preschool [funding] are a down payment on poverty, crime and despair.”
Lee said the Department of Housing and Urban Development is facing a fifth consecutive year of cuts that will mean less money for Section 8 subsidies, housing for the disabled and HOPE VI. “That amounts to $2 billion in cuts, which is what we spend in Iraq in 10 days,” said Lee.
Lee said she wants to work for measures to help teachers and police officers afford to live in cities where they work, and she stressed “health care should not just be for the healthy and wealthy. Health care should be a basic right.”
Lee said if the Democrats win back Congress in November, several blacks will get powerful seats. John Conyers of Detroit will become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Charles Rangle of Harlem will chair the Ways and Means Committee.
Regarding local needs, she said her priorities range from getting funds for sidewalks in the Cherryland district to making sure youth are trained and hired for jobs created by millions of dollars coming to the Port of Oakland dredging project that allows larger ships to dock. This has generated 8,800 jobs, Lee said. Other priorities include more affordable housing, more funding for social programs and measures to protect the environment.
A town hall healthcare meeting on grants will be held April 18 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the federal building, located at 1300 Clay St. Two community events are also planned for April 22: Medicaid and health care will be discussed from 10 a.m. to noon at the Fruitvale Senior Center, located at 3301 East 12th St., and the annual Congressional High School Arts Competition will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at Fruitvale Presbyterian Church, located at 2735 Macarthur Blvd.
For more information call Lee’s district office at (510) 763-0370.
