Page A4 ^K^jortlanh (©bseruer August 4. 2004 Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer O pinion H om eless S ligh ted by B oth P arties J udge G reg M athis D uring the nightly parade o f cam era tim e at the national D em o cratic and R epublican conventions this sum m er, there are many groups w hose platform s will get national exposure and party attention. There is one group, how ever, that will not be sharing the stage: the hom eless. O ver the past year, the N ational L aw C enter on H om elessness & Poverty estim ates that o v er 3 m il lion m en, w om an and children were hom eless and the dem and for care at hom eless shelters increased by 13 percent. W ith the reality o f hom elessness being only a m issed paycheck, health crisis or unpaid bill aw ay, this crisis is one that dem ands national attention and a national platform . The pundits on both sides o f the aisle should care about and ad dress the hom eless problem . C on trary to popular belief, hom eless by problem. T h e c u rren t p ro p o sals from both m ajor political parties and their P residen tial candidates appear to fall short o f m eeting the needs o f h o m e le ss A m erican s. P resident B ush has largely ignored the hom eless prob lem , instead giving m ore attention to the needs o f his w ealthy, corporate patrons. T h e B u sh e c o n o m y has pushed people across sev eral d em ographic groups into hom elessness in num bers th at hav e n o t been seen since the 1980s. D em o can. W hen 44 percent o f the h om e cratic candidate John K erry ’s plan less population is m ade up o f w ork w ould address the m iddle class ing people, the blam e lays in the squeeze by creating good-paying lack o f a living wage, the increase in jo b s, cutting m iddle class taxes in poverty, a lack o f affordable h o u s order to raise m iddle class incom es, ing and the inattention o f the fed cut the deficit and investigate jo b s eral governm ent to this grow ing in the new -tech, hi-tech areas. The When at least 39 percent o f homeless population is made up o f children, the urgency o f the homeless problem cannot be ignored. x people are not aim less, lazy people. A ccording to a survey o f 27 m ajor A m erican cities such as Los A nge les, C h icago and W ashington, D C , 44 percent o f the hom eless w ork, 67 percent are single parent fam ilies and 50 percent are A frican A m eri- D em ocrats’ plan addresses som e o f the factors o f hom elessness, but still fails to directly address the problem. By and large, the hom eless lack the presence o f other election year catered-to groups. T he w ide spread political b elief is that the hom eless do not vote. W hen survival is a daily concern, that m indset may not be too far from the truth. Even in non-election years, the centrist view is that hom eless advocacy is too liberal and, therefore, too risky fo r re-election purposes. The point is, how ever, that som eone needs to speak for the hom eless. W hen at least 39 percent o f hom eless p o p u lation is m ade up o f children, the urgency o f the hom eless problem cannot be ignored. A s o u r econom y struggles to recover from nearly four years o f business and jo b loss, national lead ers m ust take notice and address the needs o f the hom eless A m eri c a n s a ff e c te d by th e w re c k e d econom y. W ith hom elessness a f fecting m en and w om en; A frican A m ericans and C aucasians; veter ans and non-veterans; urban and rural, the problem isobviously m ore serious than can be solved during national party convention good tim ing. The hom eless problem can only be addressed by giving real tim e, effort and resources to estab lishing adequate incom e, afford able housing and viable social ser vices. U ntil such tim e as R epubli cans and D em ocrats alike give real consideration to these econom ic, em ploym ent and social concerns, too m any A m ericans w ill live w ith the w orry o f being hom eless. Judge Greg M athis is Chair man o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board and a National Board M em ber o f the Southern Christian Lead ership Conference. Defense of Marriage not Constitutional Act is bad even for opponents o f same- sex marriage N ancy P elosi H ouse D emocratic L eader E ditor’s note: Pelosi m ade the follow ing statem ents on the House floor in opposition o f the M arriage Protection A ct o f 2004, w hich she said w ould strip ju risd ictio n from federal courts, including the U.S. S uprem e C ourt, preventing them from ruling on challenges to the federal D efense o f M arriage Act. T he bill w as later approved by a vote o f 233 to 194. by This bill will im pact the very foun dation o f o u r g o vernm ent — it im pedes the uniform ity o f federal law, it sets a d angerous precedent, and it does grave d am ag e to the separa tion o f pow ers. I have been m arried for o v er 40 years. A nd I cannot, for the life o f me, think how this legislation that is on the flo o r today, the so-called M arriage P rotection A ct, is any protection for my m arriage. In fact, I think it is not a protection o f the rights o f A m ericans. E very m em b er o f this body has taken a solem n oath to p rotect and d efen d th e C o n stitu tio n o f the U nited States. T h at is o u r o ath o f office. All m em bers should consider pedes the uniform ity o f federal law, that this bill has far-reaching co n it sets a dangerous precedent, and seq u en ces for the separation o f it does grave dam age to the separa pow ers that has been the hallm ark tion o f pow ers. o f o ur C onstitution, o u r g overn W h en fo rm e r S e n a to r B arry m ent, and o u r rights as A m erican G old w ater spoke against a court citizens. W e m ust honor o u r oath stripping bill in 1982, he w arned his o f office and oppose this leg isla colleagues in the other body that it tion. w as a “frontal assault on the inde T his court stripping bill is not pendence o f the federal courts, and about reaffirm ing the D efense o f it is a d angerous blow to the foun M arriage A ct, o r even about gay dations o f a free society.” W e m ust m arriage. The fundam ental issue in heed that w arning today. this bill is w hether we w ant to u n T his bill w ould prohibit federal derm ine the Suprem e C ourt, the courts, including the Suprem e Court federal jud iciary and o ur system o f o f the U nited States, from hearing checks and balances. cases related to the interpretation Thisbill will impact the very foun and the validity under the C o n sti dation o f o u r governm ent — it im- tution o f the full faith and credit provision o f the D efense o f M ar riage A ct, as w ell as this court strip ping bill. If passed, it w ould constitute the first tim e in the over 2 0 0 years o f our c o u n try ’s history that C o n g ress has enacted legislation totally elim i nating any federal court from co n sid erin g the co n stitu tio n ality o f fe d e ra l le g is la tio n . O n ly sta te courts w ould be able to decide questions related to this provision o f a federal statute. T h e iro n y o f th at is, if y o u r state p a sse d a law th a t allo w ed gay m a rria g e s, a n d y o u w an ted to c h a lle n g e it in fe d e ra l c o u rt, you w o u ld o n ly b e c o n fin e d to c h a lle n g in g it in a state co u rt in y o u r state. S o e v e n th o se w ho w o u ld o p p o s e g a y m a r r ia g e w o u ld not h av e re c o u rse to th e fe d e ra l co u rts. T o d a y , m illio n s o f A m e ric a n s are looking for w ork, m illions m ore d o not hav e a c c e ss to q u a lity h e a lth c are sin ce P re s id e n t B ush and w o m en in u n ifo rm in h a rm ’s w ay w ith o u t the p ro p e r e q u ip m en t, tra in in g , an d in te llig e n c e to get the jo b d o n e. W e w an t th em to b e seco n d to n o n e, an d w e w ill m ak e sure th ey h av e w hat th ey need. B ut w e m u st tak e the tim e to d o that. B ut in s te a d , w h at are w e d o in g ? In stead , w e are g a th e rin g h ere to talk a b o u t d is c rim in a tio n , to talk ab o u t u n d e rm in in g th e C o n - Marriage Protection Act undermines Supreme Court and our system of checks and balances. v to o k o ffic e . O u r c h ild re n are not re c e iv in g th e q u a lity o f e d u c a tio n th at they d e se rv e , to have th e o p p o rtu n ity th a t is the p ro m ise o f o u r co u n try . W e are d riv ing o u rs e lv e s d e e p ly into d eb t w ith the irre sp o n s ib le and re c k le ss e c o n o m ic p o lic ie s o f the R ep u b lican s here, giv in g o u rc h il- d re n o b lig a tio n s in s te a d o f o p p o rtu n ity . W e h av e o u r m en stitu tio n o f th e U n ite d S ta te s, to talk a b o u t d ish o n o rin g th e o ath o f o ffic e th a t w e tak e to p ro te c t and d efen d the C o n stitu tio n . I ag ree w ith th o se w h o say th is bill is ‘as w ro n g as w ro n g c an b e .’ In sh o rt, th is bill is b ad law an d b ad p o lic y . T h a t’s w hy it w ill n o t hav e m y su p p o rt. Nancy Pelosi is the House Dem o cratic Leader. A Family-Based Plan For Voting Register everyone eligible to change the presidency by B en J ohnson D eputy C hairman of the D emocratic N ational C ommittee On the road with Family. It’s your world and this is your road! Loving the whole experience between point A and point B. Peace of mind has no boundaries when you’re traveling with family. American Family Insurance. Over three generations o f drivers have placed their trust in the auto coverage that means more peace o f mind on the road. Give us a call or visit us at www.amfam.com and find out why nobody protects your auto like family. American Family Insurance. Check your local telephone directory tor the agent nearest you. Apwr»r Farmfy Mtrtufti inmjrtine» Oc'OAry and SubMtuiriM H o m »0*lo » W IX J 7 U «ww »m> am oom AMERICAN FAMILY N S U R A N C E AD400TO <2004 All your protection under one roof « It is said that our fam ilies m ean every thing to us. T h e re 's an added dim ension for this elec tion year. In the 2004 election, fam ilies could be the key to preventing A m erica from w ak ing up to the beginning o f G eorge W. B u sh 's second term . O ur fam ilies are featured as the focal point o f the D em ocratic N ational C o m m ittee’s new Fam ily V oting Plan - a step-by-step process that encourages fam ilies to w ork together to ensure that every fam ily m em ber votes on E lection D ay. W e are all too fam iliar w ith the E lection D ay fiasco of2000. T he stories are legendary. T ens o f thousands o f people tried to vote in 2000, but those votes w ere never counted. T he election rife had problem s that rem arkably seem ed to be draw n like m agnets to com m unities o f color. Just 537 votes decided the last election. If all the votes in those sam e co m m u nities had been counted, th ere’s little doubt A1 G ore w ould be in the m iddle o f his re-election cam paign. T h a t's now behind us, but there w ere valuable lessons learned that we can carry into the next elec tion. W hile there are still three m onths to go until E lec tion D ay, it is already clea r that the 2004 election stands to be ju s t as close as 2000, w hich m eans that each vote carries unprecedented w eight. It also m eans o u r responsibility cannot end w ith the casting o f individual votes. W ith ju s t six steps, the F am ily V o tin g Plan (w w w .dem ocrats.org/fvp ) provides a sim ple check listfo rfam ilies. It starts w ith registering all v o t ers. V erify polling places. A ssist elderly fam ily m em bers w ith a b sentee ballots o r early voting. P ro vide transportation for every fam ily m em ber w ho needs a ride.M ake certain family m em bers are fam iliar w ith any new voting m achines. C reate an aggressive E lection D ay effort to get your fam ily to the polls. T aken as a w hole, the plan helps us take care o f our fam ilies. A nd it helps fam ilies take care o f each other. T he stakes are too high this election y ear to do anything less. N early three m illion jo b s have been lost and m ore than 43 m illion A m ericans are w ithout health \ I f all the votes in those same communities had been counted, there's little doubt Al Gore would be in the middle o f his re-election campaign. insurance. If A m erica is going to m ove forw ard, it’s clea r we w ill need a new direction and that new direction begins w ith y o u r fam ily. Ben Johnson is Deputy Secretary o f the D em o cratic National Committee. He served in the Carter White House as D irector o f Consumer Programs and served the fu ll eight years o f the Clinton Adm inistra tion. Johnson is one o f the highest-ranking African Am ericans in White House history, last serving as A ssistant to the President and D irector o f the P resident’s Initiative fo r One America.