February 14. 2007
Page A4
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
b e tte r ,li lhl'(Soditor
Hallmark Church
I was saddened to hear about the recent fire that devastated
the M orning Star B aptist C hurch. The church has been a
hallm ark o f the northeast Portland com m unity for the past
several decades and has im pacted many Portland lives.
The loss of this historic and special building has affected us
all as acom m unity. yet I have faith that thechurchliveson and
will continue to flourish for decades to com e.
Tom Potter
Mayor o f Portland
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and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc, New York. NY. and The West ( ’oast Black Publishers
Association. Serving Portland and Vancouver.
It all started on a bus
n December 1,1955,
O
in Montgomery,
Alabama, Rosa Parks took
the first step toward bus
desegregation. This African-
Rosa Parks
Diversity and Power in Congress
OR 97 20 8
Influential
predecessors
paved way
M arc H. M oriai .
T his year's Black
History M onth arrives
just as African-A m eri
can lawm akers are ex
pected to have their
greatest influence to
date w ithin the hal
lowed halls o f the U.S. Congress.
Not only did A m ericans last
N ovem ber vote for a sea change in
W ashington, they also paved the
way for one o f the most diverse
House cham bers in history as well
as House leaderships.
T w o o f the founding members
o f the C ongressional Black C au
cus, New York Rep. Charles Rangel
and M ichigan Rep. John Conyers
- have becom e the chairs o f two of
the Capitol Hill's most influential
panels - the H ouse W ays and
M eans Com m ittee and the House
Judiciary com m ittees. M ississippi
Rep. Bennie Thom pson has taken
the reins o f the House H om eland
Security Committee, whileCalifor-
n ia R ep . J u a n ita M ille n d e r
M cDonald is leading the House
Administration Com mittee.
African Americans officially se
cured the right to vote and serve in
the U.S. C ongress through the
13th, 14th, and 15th A m endm ents
by
that were ratified following the Ci vi I
War. U nderthe Reconstruction Act,
Congress dissolved governm ents
in form erly C onfederate states, re
quired them to forfeit their
representation in W ash
ington and to ensure citi
zenship rights for blacks,
w ho w ere the m ajority
p o p u la tio n in s e v e ra l
states and had aligned with
th e p arty o f P re sid en t
A braham Lincoln and the
Em ancipation Proclam a
tion.
In 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels o f
M ississippi was the first black
elected to the U.S. Senate, where he
served the last year o f the unex
pired term o f Jefferson Davis. That
paved the way for the election o f 23
other blacks to the U.S. House o f
R epresentatives and U.S. Senate
during Reconstruction.
The disputed presidential elec
tion o f 1876 quickly reversed the
fortunes o f black officeholders and
voters in the South, however. As
part o f the C om prom ise o f 1877,
Republicans agreed to stay out o f
the South's affairs as long as D em o
crats conceded to the election of
Rutherford B. Hayes as president
and agreed to respect the political
rights o f blacks.
Southern D em ocrats regained
their pow er in state legislatures and
took steps to disenfranchise black
voters through literacy tests, poll
taxes and white prim aries. North
American woman cbose
C arolinian G eorge Henry W hite
served as the last black representa
tive elected under Reconstruction
until 1901.
It took nearly three decades for
another black - Republican O scar
De Priest o f C hicago - to win elec
tion and another 3()years for one to
win a com m ittee chairm anship - at
least in the House. And nearly an
other three decades for a black to
becom e chairm an o f a com m ittee as
pow erful as the House W ays and
M eans Com m ittee or H ouse Judi
ciary Committee.
The W ays and M eans chairnian-
ship is a long time coming for Rangel,
w ho threatened to retire if Republi
cans continued to control the insti
tution in 2(X)7. His patience won
him one o f the most coveted chair
m anships, putting him in charge of
w riting the nation's tax laws. Ironi
cally, he stands on the shoulders o f
the man he defeated to win election
to the House back in 1970 —Adam
Clayton Powel I, Jr.. the second black
to lead a House com m ittee.
It is my hope that Rangel and
Conyers as well as the Thom pson
and M cDonald will match the o ut
put o f their predecessors as our
new Congress attem pts to move
our country into a new direction. I,
is also my hope that we see a black
A ppropriations Com m ittee chair in
the not-too-distant future.
Mare H. Mortal is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na
tional Urban League
MNMMM
arrest rather than relin
Going in the Wrong Direction
quishing her bus seat
Proposed federal budget would increase disparities
by
simply because of the
color of her skin. Her stand
against racism inspired a
boycott which has improved
all our lives.
TR l© M E T
See where it takes you
503-238-RIDE • tnm et.org
J anet B auer
The president’s proposed bud
get for 2008 has the wrong priorities
for Oregon and America. It would
worsen the problem o f stagnant
living standards and w ould in
crease disparities in health care,
housing, child care and income.
Oregon is beginning to chart a
path to address these challenges;
the p resid en t’s proposal w ould
mean a step in the wrong direction.
At a tim e when 116,(XX) Oregon
children under 19 lack health insur
ance, 169,(XX)Oregon families can 't
always afford enough food, and
23O,(XX)Oregon families pay more
than half o f their income for rent,
action is required to help working
fam ilies meet basic needs and give
their children a decent start in life.
Yet the president’s budget w eak
ens vital services like health care to
help pay for the President’s tax cuts
that provide windfall gains to the
very wealthy, while saddling future
generations with large debts.
For exam ple, the p resid en t's
budget fails to adequately fund the
t
The president's budget
weakens vital services like
health care to help pay fo r the
President’s tax cuts.
’
children’s health insurance pro absorb these cuts.
gram, placing health coverage for
O reg o n 's congressional delega
many low -incom e children at risk tion must take a different approach
and underm ining O reg o n 's efforts and help create a budget that re
to cover all uninsured children.
flects O reg o n 's true values.
In addition, the president pro
Congress should invest in criti
poses roughly $26 billion in cuts to cal priorities like ch ild ren 's health
M edicaid over five years, further insurance, food stam ps for people
jeopardizing O reg o n 's and other w ho struggle to put food on the
states’ efforts to provide health table, child care for w orking par
care to the poor, the elderly, the ents, and affordable housing.
By making the right choices,
disabled, and w orking families.
The president's budget also cuts Congress can craft a budge, that
$ 123 million from the 2(X)6 level in m eets O re g o n 's priorities w hile
federal funding that com es to O r charting a more fiscally responsible
egon for key priorities such as the course than the psresiden, has laid
en v iro n m en t, law en fo rcem en t, out.
Janet Bauer is a policy analyst
transportation, health care (other
fo
r
the Oregon Center fo r Public
than M edicaid),andchildcare. State
lawm akers will be hard pressed to Policy.