Congressional forum packs Laney College
to discuss poverty, healthcare, immigration

By Chauncey Bailey

Hundreds of Bay Area residents came to Laney College Saturday for a community forum hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
    A parade of passionate residents snaked their way to a microphone to speak.
    Listening intently and then commenting were some of the most powerful politicians in the nation.

    Along with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the African American lawmakers have slated four “Bringing Congress To The People” forums.
    The first was held in Mississippi last August, and Oakland was the second stop. The intent is for elected representatives to hear directly from residents about concerns so lawmakers can accordingly craft agendas and set priorities.
    At issue Saturday were racial disparities in healthcare, poverty and immigration.
    Congresswoman Barbara Lee was joined by Congressmembers Melvin Watt (North Carolina), Carolyn Kilpatrick (Michigan), James Clyburn (South Carolina), Al Green (Texas), Luis Guttierez (Illinois), Michael Honda (San Jose, CA), Sheila Jackson-Lee (Texas), Robert Scott (Virginia), Maxine Waters and Diane Watson (Los Angeles), and Dr. Donna M. Christensen (U.S. Virgin Islands).
    Panels of local experts also participated.

   “The East Bay has always been noted for ‘Power to the People’” said Congresswoman Lee. “We want to take information back to Congress.”
    “The world is in trouble, but we can speak out,” said Congresswoman Kilpatrick. “Stand for something. Just don’t throw a shoe at the TVor talk at the barber shop.”
    On immigration, Congressman Honda said that all too often legal immigrants have to wait a long time to complete the immigration process when their papers get misplaced by officials. “They have to start over again,” he said.
    Congressman Guttierez said “we need real immigration reform... to bring people out of the shadows... they pay taxes. It would take 200,000 buses [to deport] just Mexicans, and it would cost $250 billion to get them on those buses. Then who would change your [hotel] beds, wash dishes and pick fruits. This is all many want to do, but we should give them other opportunities.”
    Residents wanted to know if illegal immigrants are taking jobs from others, and how highly skilled legal immigrants can be protected in a workforce that needs them.
    On health care, speakers said too many people remain uninsured and too many blacks are dying. “This is the unfinished business of the civil rights movement,” said Bernard Tyson of Kaiser Permanente.
    Said B. Patricia Barrera of the Alameda Health Consortium: “Health care should be a right... the current system contributes to health care disparities because it’s market-driven and motivated by profits over poor patients.”
    The panel on poverty heard from Congresswoman Waters who said “you don’t hear politicians talking about poverty... they talk about the middle class to have a centrist profile.”
    She said while 200 members of Congress have gone to Iraq, only 40 have gone to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The nation is spending $1 billion a week on Iraq while trailers are needed in the Gulf States, she said.
    Along with attending the community forum, Congressional members also held a press conference, visited the Peralta Community College Administration Building for lunch and then toured East Oakland where Oakland Councilman Larry Reid pointed out new developments - housing and retailing - from Fruitvale to Highland Hospital.