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Page 8
May 9, 2012
Corporate Sponsors of a Reckless Agenda
Group should
redress the harm
it caused
M arc H . M orial
Last m onth, the civil
rights com m unity and
A m e r ic a n s o f c o n
science w on a m ajor
victory against the cor
porately funded conservative policy group
that supported the “Stand Y our G ro u n d ”
law responsible fo rd elay in g the arrest o f
Trayvon M artin’s killer. T his sam e group
is behind dozens o f voter ID law s, w hich
are jeo p a rd iz in g the voting rights o f m il
lions o f A m ericans.
A fter an exodus o f m ajor corporate
sponsors, prom pted by pressure from a
coalitio n o f progressive and civil rights
o rganizations, including the N ational
by
U rban L eague, the A m erican L eg isla
tive E xchange C ouncil (A L E C ) o ffi
cially en d ed its involvem en t in these
issues, saying in part, “W e are e lim in a t
ing the A L E C public safety and e le c
tions task force that dealt w ith non
econom ic issues.”
Corporate support, w hich ranges from
$7,000 to $25,000 in annual dues to the
organization, began to w ither in the wake
o f the public outcry against Florida’s
Stand Y our G round law, w hich shields a
gunm an from prosecution simply by claim-
ing a suspicion that his or her life was in
danger. G eorge Z im m erm an m ade that
claim to Sanford, Fla. police officers who
incredulously did not arrest him follow ing
the Feb. 26 shooting death o f the unarm ed,
17-year-old M artin.
W hile presenting itself as an organiza
tion that prom otes legislation w hich serves
the financial interests o f its corporate
funders, A L E C has used its close ties to
conservative state legislators to sponsor
sim ilar “Kill at W ill” laws in 30 states - and
the tragic body count is growing. In Florida
alone, since the law was passed in 2005,
that state’s “justifiable hom icide” rate has
ju m p ed 300 percent.
The organization has also supported
dozens o f unnecessary voter ID law s
across the country that m ay keep as m any
as five m illion citizens from exercising
their right to vote in this all im portant
election year.
In rallies, letters, and social m edia out
reach, the civil rights com m unity rem inded
A L E C ’s corporate sponsors, including
C oca-C ola, M cD onald’s, PepsiC o and
Kraft, that significant num bers o f consum
ers fo u n d th e ir a sso c iatio n w ith the
organization’s extrem e agenda offensive.
W hen a grow ing num ber o f businesses
began severing their ties with A LE C , the
group backed aw ay from supporting these
“non econom ic” issues. But we urge
A L E C to go one step further.
N ow that A L E C has ack n o w led g ed
that its activ ities led it far b ey o n d the
bo u n d s o f reaso n ab le com m ercial leg is
lative activity, w e call upon the g ro u p to
d ev o te its co n sid erab le reso u rces to re
dress the harm s cau sed by the “P ublic
S afety and E lectio n s” task force - d a n
g ero u s p o licies that arm ed civ ilian v ig i
la n te s a n d d is e n fra n c h is e d se n io rs,
people o f co lo r, and the d isab led by the
millions.
T he full im p act o f these m easures has
only begun to be felt. F or ex am p le, law s
that restrict voting access are still in the
p ip elin e in m any states.
A sim ple disavow al o f its m isguided
activ ities w ill be insufficient to co rrect
the dam age that has already b een caused.
W e call upon the A m erican L eg islativ e
E xchange C ouncil to actively support
o u r “O ccu p y the V ote” cam p aig n to
rep eal these o n erous law s.
Marc H. Morial is president and
chief executive officer o f the National
Urban League.
Citizenship for Hard Working Young People
DREAM Act keeps
faith with our values
R ep . C harles G onzalez
T he proudest claim anyone
can m ake is that Hhey are a
citizen o f this great country.
C itizenship com m ands duties I
by
**
and responsibilities freely a s
sum ed by those w ho love and
cherish the U nited States. C iti
zenship inspires and enables
us to m ake our ow n unique c o ntribution
an d is at the c o re o f the A m erican
d ream .
T he original D R E A M A ct is a b ip ar
tisan plan that en su res und o cu m en ted
children will not be relegated to underclass
status. It allow s law -abiding, h ard -w o rk
ing young people to co ntinue c o n trib u t
ing to their adopted h om eland and earn
citizenship. T he D R E A M A ct perm its
ch ild ren w ho violated no law w hen they
IJorttani» (Dbseruer
w ere brought to the U .S. to attain their
full p o tential and en han ce A m erican
society.
»emocrats w orked w ith R epublicans
to incorporate th eir ideas and m ade
11 significant changes to the bill. In
fac t, R e p u b lic a n S e n a to r O rrin
H atch from U tah w as one o f the
law m akers w ho introduced the bill.
It took nine years to get a vote on
the floors o f the H ouse and Senate
and though that is a long tim e, we
did not give up. A nd w e w ill not
give up now .
In addition to o u r partn ers in both
parties, the diverse D R E A M student
com m unity had a m ajor im pact on g et
ting the bill to the floor. E very step o f the
w ay, D R E A M ers w ere there to show
the w orld how im portant this legislation
is for the econom y and for the p reserv a
tion o f A m erican ideals. H earing from
D R E A M ers w as im portant fo r leg isla
tors in the C ongressional H isp an ic C a u
Established 1970
USPS 959-680 __________________________________
47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
cus and as w e co n tin u e to w ork to w ard
p assin g this bill, w e w ant to con tin u e
h earing from them .
E arning citizen sh ip is essential b e
cau se m ere legal resid en cy w ill serve
only as a life sentence to being releg ated
to an u n d erclass status. It is against the
values o f o u r co u n try to ask D R E A M ers
to w ork hard, pay taxes and sacrifice
th eir lives fo r o u r country, but deny them
citizenship. It is also contrary to the long-
estab lish ed legal principle that you d o n ’t
p u n ish ch ild ren fo r the acts o f a parent.
A ny leg islatio n that d o es not allow a
p ath w ay to citizen sh ip is not w orthy o f
bein g co n n ected to the D R E A M Act.
W h en it co m es to im m ig ratio n reform , it
has b een argued that ‘so m ething is b e t
ter than n o th in g ,’ but is it really so m e
thing if it g u aran tees a lifelong b lo ck to
eq u ality ? T he D R E A M A ct is not dead,
but it m ust be resu scitated w ith b ip arti
san support.
It is u n accep tab le to k eep a g ro u p o f
y o u n g p eo p le in a state o f u n certain ty
and to restrict th eir ability to assim ilate
and b eco m e fully vested in this great
country. T he A m erican people ap p ear
to agree. A cco rd in g to a poll co n d u cted
by F ox N ew s in D ecem b er, 66 percen t
o f all reg istered voters su p p o rted a p a th
w ay to citizen sh ip fo r u n d o cu m en ted
im m ig ran ts w h o paid taxes, learn ed E n
glish and had n o crim inal back g ro u n d .
F o r the future o f o u r co u n try and o u r
econom ic w ell-being, and in keeping with
o u r n a tio n ’s p ro u d est trad itio n o f fair
ness and ju stic e , le t’s p ass the D R E A M
A ct w ith the b ip artisan su p p o rt it d e
serves. L e t’s g iv e y o u n g p eo p le the
chance to som eday raise th eir rig h t hands
and take an oath o f d ev o tio n and alle
giance to the only c o u n try th ey have
e v er kn o w n and loved. A n y th in g less
w ill be a d ream u n fu lfilled fo r the stu
d en ts and o u r nation.
Rep. Charles Gonzalez is chair o f
the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
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